


The Girl

by Rockport268 (RadarsTeddyBear)



Series: Anya [1]
Category: Big Time Rush (TV)
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Past Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-23
Updated: 2011-04-23
Packaged: 2018-12-14 02:08:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 29,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11773278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RadarsTeddyBear/pseuds/Rockport268
Summary: Kendall finds an abused girl in an alley one day and he takes her home to help her. When her stepparents come looking for her, will Kendall risk his life to save her? Or will it be the girl that risks her life for Kendall? Rated T for abuse and blood and somewhat-gruesome injuries.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posted from FanFiction.net.
> 
> This story contains what I'm sure are inaccurate depictions of panic attacks and PTSD. I apologize.

            As Kendall Knight walked back to the Palm Woods, he had no idea that his life was about to change forever.

            Kendall had just been shopping for a birthday present for his little sister Katie, whose birthday was in a week.  He had finally found the perfect present and now couldn’t wait for her birthday.

            As Kendall walked home he took in his surroundings.  He had come from a pretty small town; Los Angeles never ceased to fascinate him. 

            _What’s that pile of rags doing there…?_ Kendall wondered, passing an alley.  _Wait a second…did that pile of rags have hair?_ Kendall backed up and saw that yes, the pile of rags _did_ have what looked like hair.  In fact, it wasn’t a pile of rags at all.

It was a human being.

            Kendall entered the ally to get a closer look.  The person looked like a teenage girl, all huddled up in a ball.  She was dressed in filthy denim rags and her skin and hair was even filthier.  She looked like she was shivering; Kendall hesitantly touched her skin.  She wasn’t cold.  She didn’t feel sick.  So why was she shivering?

            “Hello?” Kendall said tentatively.

            The girl’s head popped up, her eyes wide in fright.  Before Kendall could react, the girl had scrambled away, backing herself into the corner.

            “I’m not going to hurt you,” Kendall said softly.  He put the bag carrying Katie’s gift down and held out his hands to show that he wasn’t carrying any weapons.

            The girl didn’t move.

            “My name’s Kendall,” Kendall said, “What’s yours?”

            The girl didn’t say anything.

            “Do you understand English?” Kendall asked, the thought occurring to him that this girl might be an immigrant.

            The girl nodded slowly.

            Kendall took the girl’s wrist and looked at her arm.  “You’re hurt,” he said, in the same soft tone, seeing that her dirty skin was covered in ugly colored cuts and bruises.

            The girl closed her eyes, turning her head away, as if she was prepared for him to hit her.

            “I’m not gonna hurt you,” Kendall said again, dropping her wrist.

            The girl cautiously opened her eyes.  Kendall thought he saw her relax just a tiny bit.

            “I have a friend that can help you,” he said, “He can make you feel better.  He can make the hurt on your skin go away.”

            The girl looked like she was trying to decide whether to trust this boy or not.

            “Come on; I’ll take you to him,” said Kendall, standing up and holding out his hand.

            The girl hesitantly put her hand into his.  Kendall gently pulled her up and looked at her.

            She was about a head shorter than him.  She looked like she had stringy, dark brown hair, but Kendall wasn’t sure if that was her real hair color or if that was just dirt.  She had hazel eyes and a small nose.

            The clothing she was wearing was ripped and torn.  The pants she was wearing could hardly be called pants anymore.  Kendall could see red marks and more bruises underneath the clothing.  But that wasn’t what struck Kendall the most.

            Her clothes were covered in blood.  In some places, there were just some red spots scattered around; in others, the entire area had been dyed red.

            “My apartment is only a block away; do you think you can walk that far?” Kendall asked.

            The girl nodded.

            “Ok.  Come on.”  Kendall led the girl out of the alley and onto the sidewalk.  They were able to walk the short distance without any mishap. 

            It was six o’clock so most of the people that lived at the Palm Woods were eating dinner, including Bitters.  There were only one or two people sitting in the lobby, reading scripts or enjoying the free Wi-Fi.  Kendall went back outside.

            “Come on.  There aren’t a lot of people in there right now,” Kendall said.  The girl took his hand again and they quickly went up to apartment 2J.  Kendall used his key to open the door.

            “Logan!” he called as soon as they entered the apartment.

            “I’m over he-who is that?” Logan interrupted himself, coming out of his room.

            “I don’t know.  She’s hurt.”  Kendall tried to pull back the girl’s sleeve to show his friend but she wouldn’t let him.

            “This is my friend Logan.  He’s going to help you,” Kendall said to the girl patiently, “I promise he won’t hurt you.”

            The girl thought for a moment and then hesitantly pulled back her sleeve.  Logan gasped.

            “Carlos!” he called, “Get me the first aid kit!”

            “What?” Carlos mumbled sleepily from the couch, where he had been taking a nap.

            “First aid kit.  Now.”

            “Ok,” said Carlos, getting up. 

            James came over.  “What’s going on?” he asked.

            Carlos brought the first aid kit to Logan.  “What happened?” he asked, but then saw the girl.  “Who’s that?”

            By this time Logan had brought the girl to the bathroom.

            “I’m going to wash your arms, ok?” he told her.  The girl looked at Kendall as if to ask if this was ok.  He nodded back at her.

            “Carlos!  I need a washcloth!” Logan said.

            “Who’s that?” Carlos repeated.

            “Carlos!”

            “Ok, ok.  No need to yell,” Carlos grumbled, bringing Logan what he needed.

            “Where’s my mom?” Kendall asked.

            “She’s out shopping with Katie,” said Logan, beginning to use the washcloth to gently wash the girl’s arms.

            “We’re back!” the boys heard, as if right on cue.

            “Mom!” Kendall said, starting to leave the bathroom.  Before he could leave, though, he felt a tug on his sleeve.  He turned around to find the frightened face of the girl.

            “Don’t worry.  I’ll be right back,” he promised, and then went to the living room.

            “Hi, Kendall,” said Mrs. Knight, putting her bags down.

            “Hey, big brother,” Katie said.

            “Mom.  I need to tell you something.”

            “Can it wait?  I have to go to the bathroom.”

            “No, Mom, it can’t wait.  Besides, Logan and Carlos are in the bathroom.”

            “Did Carlos hurt himself again?” Mrs. Knight asked, knowing that the bathroom turned into the first aid station whenever one of her boys was hurt.

            “No, it’s…it’s this girl.  She’s hurt.”

            “What girl?” Mrs. Knight asked, confused.

            “I don’t know.  I just found her in an ally on my way back here and she’s hurt and I don’t think she has a home.  Logan’s helping her right now.”

            Mrs. Knight marched into the bathroom and gasped a bit at what she saw. 

            “Alright!  Everybody out!” she said, “This girl needs a mother’s touch!”

            “But—”

            “No buts!  Out!” 

            Logan and Carlos left the room, knowing that Mrs. Knight was serious. 

            “You too, Kendall,” said Mrs. Knight.

            “Mom!” Kendall said, noting the girl’s scared face, “Just wait a second!”  He turned to the girl.  “This is my mom.  She’s gonna…um…”

            “I’m going to wash you and get you some clothes,” Mrs. Knight said in a kinder tone.

            At the word ‘mom’ the girl shrunk back.

            “It’s ok.  She’s not gonna hurt you,” Kendall said gently.

            The girl shook her head.

            “I promise.  My mom’s really nice.  She’s just going to help you.”

            The girl shook her head again.

            “She won’t hurt you.  I swear.”

            The girl looked uncertain, as if she was trying to decide whether to believe Kendall or not.

            “I’ll be right out here the whole time, ok?  You’ll be fine,” Kendall said, slowly moving towards the door.

            The girl nodded uncertainly.

            Kendall left the room and slowly closed the door behind him, breathing a sigh of relief. 

            “Ok, Kendall,” said James, arms crossed, “What’s going on?  Who is she?”

            Carlos and Logan were standing next to James, looking very much like they wanted to know the same thing.

            Kendall told his friends all that had happened.

            “I think she might have been abused or something,” Kendall concluded.

            “Looks like it,” Logan said, a grim look on his face, “And you said she didn’t say anything?”

            “Nope.  Not a single word,” said Kendall, “I’m not sure if it’s because she can’t or if it’s because she chooses not to or what.”

            “Maybe she’s just the quiet type.  Like Lindsey,” Carlos said.  Lindsey was one of the quietest girls back in Minnesota; it had taken a lot of explaining to get Carlos to understand that some people were just naturally quiet. 

            “I don’t think so,” said James, “Lindsay was just shy; this girl seems…I don’t know...scared.”

            “Like she’s been traumatized or something,” Logan added grimly.


	2. Chapter 2

            About fifteen minutes later the door to the bathroom opened once again.

            “Finished!” said Mrs. Knight proudly, leading the girl out into the living room.

            Kendall quickly stood up from the couch and turned around.  He was amazed at what he saw.

            “Are you sure that’s the same girl?” he said, gawking.  The girl’s skin was no longer dirty and was covered in neat superhero band aids (Carolos refused to use anything but).  Now you could tell that she had a pale complexion and she wore a very shy expression on her face.  Her choppy hair was a bit lighter than it had been before but it was still dark brown.  The jeans, t-shirt, and jean jacket that she had borrowed from Katie and Mrs. Knight hung loosely around her tiny frame, making her look really…vulnerable.  Kendall had the sudden urge to protect this unknown girl from anything that might ever harm her.

            By this time James, Carlos, and Logan had come over.

            “Whoa,” said James.

            “Wow,” Logan agreed.

            “Who’s that?” Carlos demanded, “And where did that other girl go?”

            Mrs. Knight laughed.  “Katie and I are going to go to the mall to buy her some clothes now.  Will you be all right by yourselves?”

            “We’ll be fine, Mrs. Knight,” said Logan.

            “Good.  Now if anything happens, anything at all, please call me,” said Mrs. Knight, kissing her son on his forehead.

            “Ok, Mom,” said Kendall, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. 

            Satisfied, Mrs. Knight and Katie left the apartment.

            “Who is that?” asked Carlos again, a bewildered look on his face, “And how did she switch people without us knowing?”

            James slapped Carlos on the back of the head.  “That’s the same girl, smart one,” he said, “It’s a wonder how different people look when they’re clean.  You should try it sometime.”

            “Hey!” Carlos said indignantly, “I happen to be very clean, thank you very much.”

            “Yeah.  Sure you are.  Just like I’m the queen of England,” replied James, heading towards his room.

            “James is the queen of England?” asked Carlos, confused.

            Logan sighed.  “No, Carlos, James isn’t the queen of England.”

            “But he just said—”

            “Sarcasm, Carlos.  Sarcasm.”

            “Oh,” said Carlos.

            “I’m going to go read.  If you get into trouble, please, leave me out of it,” said Logan, heading towards the room that he shared with Kendall.

            The girl looked at Kendall with a look on her face that clearly said, “Is he really that stupid?”

            Kendall laughed.  “Carlos isn’t always the brightest crayon in the box but we tolerate him anyway,” he said.

            “Hey!” said Carlos, throwing himself at Kendall, ready to wrestle.

            “Carlos!” said Kendall sharply, “No violence!”  Kendall motioned to the girl with his eyes.

            “Oh.  Right,” said Carlos, untangling himself from his friend.

            “By the way,” said Kendall, turning to the girl, “This is Carlos.  The one that was trying to take care of your cuts and bruises before my mom came is Logan and the other one with the longish hair who said he’s the queen of England is James.”

            The girl nodded.

            “I’m going to go to my room to practice my guitar.  My room’s right over there; I share it with Logan.  Will you be ok out here with Carlos?”

            The girl suddenly looked very frightened.

            “It’s ok.  I promise.  He won’t hurt you,” Kendall assured her.

            The girl nodded uncertainly.

            “Ok.  If you need anything, I’ll be right in there,” said Kendall, pointing again to his room before leaving them.

            Carlos looked at the girl.  “Hi,” he said, “I’m Carlos.  I like corndogs.  Speaking of which…”  Carlos went into the kitchen and came out holding his favorite food, fresh out of the microwave. 

            “You want something to eat?” Carlos asked.   The girl shook her head.

            “Ok.  You wanna watch TV?”

            The girl nodded.

            Carlos went and turned on the TV and the two began to watch The Fairly Odd Parents.

            “Ow!  Hot!  Hot!”  Carlos shouted after biting into his corndog.

            “What’s with all the screaming?” asked Logan, coming out of his room, “Did you burn your mouth on a corndog again, Carlos?”

            “No…” said Carlos, a very guilty look on his face.

            Logan raised his eyebrows.

            “Maybe…” Carlos conceded.

            Logan laughed a bit.  “Well, what are you two up to, anyway?”

            “Eatin’ corndogs and watchin’ TV,” Carlos answered.

            “Mind if I join you?” asked Logan.

            “Sure.  But if you want a corndog you’ll have to make it yourself.”

            “No, I’m good,” said Logan, sitting down.

            “What happened to reading?” asked Carlos.

            “Eh, I can’t concentrate with Kendall playing his guitar.”

            “I think you just heard the Fairly Odd Parents and wanted to watch with us,” Carlos accused, grinning.  The Fairly Odd Parents had always been Logan’s second favorite cartoon when they were kids, right behind Jimmy Neutron. 

            Logan rolled his eyes.  “Right.  That is sooo the reason that I came in here.”

            Carlos threw a pillow at Logan, hitting him squarely in the face.

            “Hey!” said Logan, throwing the pillow back at him.  Within minutes they were having an all-out pillow fight.

            “What’s all the noise?” said James with a yawn as he entered the room.  Instead of an answer, he got hit in the head with a pillow.

            “Hey!” he cried indignantly, “Watch the—” Before he could finish the sentence, James was hit with another pillow.

            “Ok, that does it!”  And James joined the pillow fight.

            It was inevitable that Kendall would hear the fight and, sure enough, he came out of his room.

            “What’s going on?” he demanded, looking at the scene in front of him.  James was sitting on Logan, repeatedly hitting the smaller boy with a pillow, while Carlos used another pillow to mess up James’ hair.

            “Guys!” Kendall said when nobody answered him, “Guys, cut that out!”  Kendall went over and pulled Carlos away from James, sitting him on the couch.

            “Don’t move,” he commanded, the look on his face promising dire consequences if he wasn’t obeyed.

            Kendall then went back and pried James off of Logan, who just laid there for a few moments, catching his breath.

            “Now,” said Kendall once all three boys were seated on the couch and the pillows were put back in their proper places, “Does somebody want to explain to me what all that was?”

            “Hey, don’t look at me, they were already fighting when I got here!” said James, fixing his hair.

            “Carlos started it!” Logan blurted out.

            “Did not!”

            “Did, too!”

            “Did not!”

            “Guys!” Kendall interrupted, “Shut it!”  He turned to Carlos.  “What did I say before?”

            “Um…‘how about you three have a pillow fight while I practice my guitar’?”

            “Carlos, I never said that.”

            “Uh…oh!  I know!  ‘Carlos isn’t the brightest crayon in the box!’”  Carlos indignantly threw the nearest pillow at Kendall, hitting him on the side of the head.

            “Carlos!” said Kendall, “I said ‘no violence’!  And the way you have pillow fights definitely constitutes as violence!”

            “Oh,” said Carlos, his face falling a little, “But violence is fun.”

            “Not when we have guests over,” Kendall said, indicating the girl.

            “Oh yeah.  I forgot she was there,” said Carlos a bit sheepishly.

            Logan whacked Carlos on the back of the head.

            “Hey!” Kendall said, “That goes for all of you!”

            Logan put his hands in his lap, a guilty look on his face.

            “Now,” Kendall continued, “Will you guys be able to behave yourselves?”

            The three teenagers slowly nodded.

            “Good.”  Kendall turned to the girl, who had been watching the entire thing with a bewildered look on her face, “They’re not always…” Kendall thought a moment, “Yeah, they kind of do that type of thing a lot, actually.”  Kendall sat down in between the girl and Carlos and turned his attention to the TV.

 


	3. Chapter 3

            “We’re back!” Mrs. Knight called out for the second time that day.  Kendall switched off the television and the girl went with Kendall’s mom to try on the clothes.

            “I wonder if she has a name…” Carlos mused to himself when she was gone.

            “Of course she has a name,” Logan said, “Unless you’re being raised by wild animals, you’re going to have some sort of a name.”

            While his two friends were talking, Kendall had gone over to the pile of rags that used to be the girl’s only clothing and started going through the pockets.

            “Kendall!” James hissed, “What are you doing?”

            “I’m looking for something that might give us her name.”

            “You can’t just go through someone’s pockets!”

            “This is an exception,” Kendall replied, “Besides, it doesn’t look like she’s going to tell us anything any time soon.”

            “Are you finding anything?” Logan asked.

            “Not yet…wait!  Here’s something!”  Kendall took out a folded piece of paper and read what it said on the outside of it: “To Anastasia, from Mama.”  Kendall looked up.  “Should I read it?”

            “So her name is Anastasia?” Carlos said thoughtfully.

            “Presumably,” Logan replied.

            “It’s too formal,” James finally said, “She needs a nickname.”  
            “We can deal with that later,” Kendall said, “Should I read it or not?”

            “I don’t know…” Logan said.

            “Read it!” Carlos said eagerly.  James nodded in agreement.

Kendall opened the paper carefully, afraid that the fragile creases were going to tear.  The paper was very worn and looked older than it probably was. Circular stains dotted the paper; Kendall realized that they were tears.

            “Dear Anna.  I don’t have much time left, but—”

            Suddenly, the girl appeared out of nowhere and darted towards Kendall, plucking the paper from him.  She checked the paper to make sure it was intact and folded it back up lovingly, slipping it into the pocket of the new outfit she was wearing.  She then looked at Kendall with a mixture of anger and confusion.

            “We-we were just trying to find out what your name is,” Kendall said sheepishly, “I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have gone through your stuff.”

            The girl’s expression immediately changed to one of surprise, as if she’d never been apologized to before.

            “Do you forgive me?”

            The girl nodded.  They stood in awkward silence for a few minutes.

            “So…your name’s Anastasia?” Logan asked, breaking the silence.  The girl nodded.

            “Can we call you Anna?” Carlos asked.  The girl quickly shook her head.

            “Can we call you Stacy?” James asked.  The girl shook her head furiously.

            Kendall thought for a moment.  “How about Anya?” he asked.

            The girl nodded her head excitedly.

            Carlos grinned.  “I guess we found the right name,” he said.

            “What’s going on?” Mrs. Knight asked, coming out of her room, looking a bit relieved when she spotted the girl.

            “We figured out her name,” Kendall said, gesturing to Anya.

            “Really?  And how did you do that?” Mrs. Knight asked them with a knowing look.

            “Her name’s Anastasia.  Anya for short,” James said.

            “Anastasia.  That’s such a pretty name,” Mrs. Knight said.

            “So, are you done with the clothes?” James asked.

            “Almost,” Mrs. Knight said, taking Anya and retreating back into her room.

* * *

 

            “So, Anya, what do you like to do for fun?” Carlos asked when she was done trying on her new clothes and had changed into a pair of jeans and a purple shirt with a large butterfly on it, both of which were huge on her.

            Anya shrugged.

            “Do you like to…listen to music?” James asked.

            Anya shrugged again.

            “Have you ever heard of the band Big Time Rush?” Logan asked.

            Anya shook her head.

            “Really?” asked Carlos.

            Anya nodded, embarrassed.

            “Not everybody knows about us, Carlos,” Kendall said, putting a comforting arm around Anya but taking it away when she involuntarily flinched, “Especially if you don’t get to listen to much music.”

            “Well, anyway,” James said, “We are Big Time Rush,” a smug look came onto James’ face as he added, “Our album just went gold.”

            A look of disbelief passed over Anya’s face. 

            “Well, if you don’t know Big Time Rush, what music do you like?” Carlos asked. 

Anya shrugged.

            “Do you like to go outside?” Logan asked.

            The girl looked longingly at the window but then shrugged again.

            “Did you get to go outside a lot, well, wherever you were?” Kendall asked.

            Anya shook her head no.

            “That stinks,” Carlos said, not able to imagine being confined to the indoors all the time.

            “No wonder you’re so pale,” James said.  Logan clamped his hand over his friend’s mouth.

            “James!” he hissed, “You don’t say that kind of thing to people!”

            “Mm mmph” James said, his words muffled incoherently by Logan’s hand.

            “Enough with the questions,” Kendall said, “Let’s do something else.”

            “Hey, Carlos, is that my belt?” James suddenly asked suspiciously.

            Carlos looked down at his waist.  “Uh, no…of course it’s not your belt…”

            “Really?  ‘Cause it looks exactly like the one I couldn’t find this morning.”

            “Well that’s strange…” said Carlos nervously.

            “Can I see it?  Just to make sure it isn’t mine, of course.”

            “You know, I’d rather keep it on,” said Carlos.

            “CARLOS, GIVE ME THE BELT!” James shouted, tackling Carlos. 

            “Guys!” Kendall said, but neither of his friends heard him.

            “Guys-hey-ow!” said Logan, trying to pry the two boys apart and getting whacked in the face.

            “Aha!” said James after successfully removing the belt from his shorter friend, “It is mine!”

            “James!” Kendall shouted, knowing that he would now be heard, “Was that really necessary?”

            “Yes, it was,” James replied, fitting the belt around his waist.

            “Anya?” Logan said in a tone that made Kendall whip his head around.

            Anya had gone deathly pale and was visibly trembling.  Her breathing came in short, quick gasps.  Beads of sweat dotted her forehead.  Anya was slowly moving away from them like an animal backing itself into a corner.

            “Anya?  What’s wrong?” Kendall asked softly.

            “Anya?” Carlos said tentatively, a feeling of guilt settling over him.  He reached out to put a hand on the girl’s shoulder but she backed out of his reach, crying out a little.

            “Stop,” said Logan, “Don’t touch her.  I think she’s having a panic attack.”

            “Well, do something, then!” Kendall said, using all of his willpower to keep from screaming.

            “I-I don’t know what to do!” said Logan, panicking a bit.

            “Give her some space,” James instructed, his voice taking on a commanding tone.  Then he turned to Anya, making no move to get closer to her, “Hey, Anya,” he said gently, “It’s me, James.  Everything’s gonna be ok.  Today is Thursday.  We were just talking about music, remember?  How we’re Big Time Rush and how you haven’t heard our music yet.”  James nudged Carlos, who was sitting closest to him, “Start telling her things,” he hissed.

            “Why?” Carlos asked, confused.

            “Reality checks.  She needs to be reminded that she’s here and she’s with us instead of wherever she was before.”

            “Um, hi, Anya,” Carlos said, “It’s me, Carlos.  We were just watching TV a few hours ago.  We-we were watching the Fairly Odd Parents.  Then Logan came in and started a pillow fight.”  Logan had to bite his tongue to keep from correcting him. “And, um…before that I burned my mouth on a corndog.”  Out of things to say, Carlos helplessly looked at Logan.

            “Hey, Anya,” Logan said, “It’s Logan.  Remember the episode of Fairly Odd Parents we watched today?  Timmy wished for a magic copy machine that made the things that he copied real.  Then he pressed the life size button…remember?  He brought Dark Laser to life and then he had to defeat him.” Logan paused, unsure of what to say next.  Kendall then decided that it was his turn.

             “Hey, Anya.  It’s me, Kendall.”  Kendall took a deep breath, “I found you this morning, remember?  In that alley?  I took you here and my mom cleaned you up and got you some new clothes.  She cleaned up your cuts and bruises and gave you those band-aids.  See?  That one has Iron Man on it…and that one’s got Spiderman…he’s my favorite.  There’s Batman…he’s Carlos’ favorite…and there’s Superman.”  Kendall realized that he was babbling at this point but he didn’t care.  “And, um…then Carlos and James and Logan had that pillow fight—”

            “Kendall,” Logan said softly, laying a hand on his friend’s shoulder.  Kendall turned to face him and Logan was shocked to see tears in his eyes. 

            “Hey Anya, can you hear me?” James asked. 

            Anya nodded slightly.

            “Good.  Now I want you to breathe with me.  Ok?  Can you do that for me?”

            Anya nodded again.

            “Ok.  Now I want you to breathe in while I count one, two, and then breathe out while I count one, two.  Can you do that for me?”

            Anya nodded again and James began breathing with her as Kendall, Carlos, and Logan watched.

            Slowly, Anya’s breathing returned to normal.

            “Anya?” Kendall asked cautiously.  For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, recognition came into the girl’s eyes and she visibly relaxed.  Anya looked around as if remembering where she was, and then her eyes fell on the boys, as if she was looking for someone.  Her eyes lighted on Kendall and she launched herself into his lap, bursting into tears. 

            “It’s ok, Anya.  It’s over now.  Everything’s ok,” he said, rubbing her back comfortingly.

            Carlos breathed a sigh of relief.  “I’m glad that’s over,” he said.  Logan and James nodded in agreement.

            “Hey, James,” Logan said when James got up to leave, “How’d you know what to do?”

            “My cousin used to have panic attacks,” he said simply and disappeared into the room he shared with Carlos.

            Kendall continued to hold Anya as she cried, whispering soothing words to calm her down.

            “Is she gonna be ok?” Carlos asked.

            “Yeah,” said Logan, “She’ll be fine.  Panic attacks are just…really scary.”

            Carlos and Logan sat in silence while Kendall calmed Anya down until she fell asleep in his arms. 

* * *

 

            Over the next few days, the guys tried to get Anya to feel more comfortable around them and help her feel safe.  She was always shying away from them, like she thought they were going to hurt her.  The guys were careful to never sneak up on her or startle her in any way.  In fact, they became so much mellower than they usually were that Mrs. Knight hardly knew them.  The apartment became an entirely different place—no more loud music, no more loud TV, no more loud video games.  Mrs. Knight watched her boys become gentle and quiet.  She watched as they introduced her to the music they listened to, the TV shows they watched, the movies they liked.

            And when they left to record music with Gustavo, it was her turn.  Mrs. Knight fed the almost dangerously underweight girl and, when she found out that she liked to cook, she taught her how.  She made sure that the girl was never cold, never hungry, never scared.  She held her when she cried, while she remembered things that happened to her in the past. 

            And when Mrs. Knight had to go shopping or do laundry, it was Katie’s turn.  She taught Anya how to use the computer and how to play video games. She was the one that found out that Anya had beautiful handwriting.  She showed Anya her books and discovered that Anya had a passion for reading. 

            And during all this time, Anya did not say a single word.


	4. Chapter 4

            Slowly, Anya became more comfortable around them.  She no longer flinched when anybody went near her.  She was no longer on edge all the time.  Well, mostly. 

            “Hey, Anya,” Kendall said, coming out of his room to find the girl sitting on the couch, looking at something in her hand.  “What’s that?”

            Anya jumped, startled by the sound of Kendall’s voice.

            “Sorry.  Didn’t mean to sneak up on you,” Kendall said, sitting next to her.  He nodded towards the item in Anya’s palm.  “What’s that?”

            Anya’s palm closed as if she was trying to hide whatever she was holding. 

            “Is that a necklace?” Kendall asked.

            Anya nodded slowly.

            “Can I see?”

            Anya slowly opened her palm to reveal a golden heart-shaped locket with an ornate red flower engraved on it.

            “It’s beautiful,” Kendall said, staring at the piece of jewelry before him.  Anya opened it up, revealing two pictures: one was of a man and one was of a woman.

            “Are these your parents?” Kendall asked, noticing the similarities between them, especially the woman, and the girl next to him.

            Anya nodded, a sad look on her face.

            “Where are they?”

            Anya pointed up.

            “Oh.”  Kendall was silent for a moment.  “My dad’s dead, too.  He died when I was seven.”

            Anya turned to him, the look on her face growing even sadder, as if the news that Kendall was fatherless was so much heartbreaking than the fact that she was an orphan.

            “You look a lot like your mom,” Kendall remarked.

            Anya nodded in agreement.

            Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.  Mrs. Knight answered it.

            “Officer O’Reilly.  LA Police,” Kendall heard a gruff voice say, “May I have a word—”

            “Stacy!” A blonde woman wearing too much makeup came rushing into the apartment towards Anya, who suddenly went pale and began to back away.  Kendall saw that she was visibly shaking; clearly she was terrified of these people.  They had to be the ones who had abused her.

            “Stacy, don’t you recognize me?” the woman asked, a bit sadly.  The woman then turned to Kendall. 

            “What did you do to her?” she demanded angrily.

            “What, me?  I didn’t do a single thing to her!” Kendall said defensively, “You’re the one that’s hurt her!”

            Logan, James, and Carlos peeked out of their rooms.

            “Don’t be silly,” said a man, coming into the room, “If anyone’s hurt her, it was you!  Kidnapping a poor, innocent girl, bringing her to a strange place—”

            “No!” Kendall shouted, “You’re the ones who’ve been beating her God only knows how long!  When I found her she had so many cuts and bruises that it was impossible to tell what the color of her skin was!”

            “Maybe he didn’t hurt her on the outside,” the woman said in a horrible, screechy voice, “But he’s poisoned her mind, turned her against us!”

            “Enough!” shouted Officer O’Reilly in an exasperated tone.  He then turned to the man and woman.  “You say this is the missing girl?”

            “Of course!” the woman said, “That’s our daughter, Stacy.”

            “If she’s your daughter, why is she terrified of you?” Kendall asked.

            “Shut up, kid!” the man said.

            “Hey!  You can’t talk to my son that way!” Mrs. Knight said.

            “Oh yeah?”

            “Enough!” Officer O’Reilly shouted again, “Ok.  These people here claim that this is their stepdaughter, Stacy.  May I ask why she is here?”

            “I found her,” Kendall said, “She was dirty and hurt and scared so I took her home.”

            “Why didn’t you report her to the police?” the officer asked.

            “I-it never really occurred to me,” Kendall answered uncertainly, “She didn’t seem lost or anything.  Just…well, it seemed to me that she was running away from someone.”

            “Liar!” the woman screeched.

            “Be quiet or else I’ll arrest you!” Officer O’Reilly said, rubbing his temples, “Now.  Where did the girl go?”

            Kendall turned around.  “She’s hiding behind the couch,” he said.

            “Bring her out here, please.”

            Kendall went to where Anya was hiding.  “Anya,” he called softly, “Anya, can you come out here for a moment?”

            Anya shook her head.

            “Please?  I promise I won’t let them hurt you.”

            Anya thought for a moment and then reluctantly came out from behind the couch.  Kendall gently took her hand and led her over to the table.

            “Stacy!”

            Anya immediately hid behind Kendall.

            A look of sorrow crept onto the woman’s face. 

            “Miss…can I call you Stacy?” Officer O’Reilly directed the question towards Anya, who shook her head ‘no.’

            “Ok…what should I call you then?” 

            “Anya,” Kendall said, the girl nodding in agreement.

            “Ok.  Anya.”  Kendall noticed that the officer took on a kinder tone when speaking to the girl.  “Do you know these people?”

            Anya nodded slowly.

            “Did you run away from them?”

            Anya nodded again, a bit more confidently.

            “Why?”

            Anya hesitated, putting her hand at the end of her sleeve.  She turned to Kendall as if asking permission.

            “Go on,” he said quietly.

            Anya pulled back her sleeve, revealing the many cuts and bruises scattered on her arm. 

            The woman gasped.

            “What did you do to her?” she asked Kendall accusingly.

            “Will you get it through your thick head, woman?  I did absolutely nothing to her!  You’re the ones that did this!” Kendall shouted, losing his temper.

            “The girl has to go back with her stepparents,” Officer O’Reilly sighed, standing up.

            “What?!?!” yelled Mrs. Knight and Kendall.

            “She can’t!  They’ll-they’ll beat her!  They’ll hurt her!  You can’t do that to her!” Kendall yelled.

            “I’m sorry, but that’s the law.  We can investigate, but as for now by law Anya is under the custody of Mr. and Mrs. Hawkinson here.”

            Kendall took a deep breath to calm the rage growing inside of him and stood up.

            “Come on, Anya,” he said, making his way over to his room while the police officer chose that moment to use the bathroom.

            “Come on, guys, we’re running away,” he said to Logan, James, and Carlos, who had all been watching the scene.

            “Already ahead of you,” James said with a grin, holding up a backpack.  Kendall realized that his friends were already wearing similar backpacks, Logan also holding one in his hands.

            “This one’s for Anya,” he explained, handing her the bag.

            “Let’s go,” said Kendall, heading for the door to the apartment.  He pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at it for a few moments.  Then he set it down on the kitchen counter, silently instructing his friends to do the same.

            “Did that boy just say that he was running away?” the man asked.

            “I didn’t hear anything,” Mrs. Knight said innocently.

            “Stop him!  He can’t just up and leave!” the woman said.

            “I have no idea what you are talking about,” Mrs. Knight said.

            “We’ll keep in touch,” Kendall told his mom, and then the five teenagers headed out the door, unsure of where they were going or when they would be back, their last memory of the Palm Woods being the sound of Anya’s stepparents trying to convince the police officer to go after them.


	5. Chapter 5

            “Ok.  Where are we off to?” Logan asked, sitting in the driver’s seat of the Big Time Rush Mobile.

            “I don’t know.  Away from here,” Kendall said from the back of the car.

            “Oooh!  Let’s go to Disneyland!” Carlos suggested excitedly from the front.

            “Carlos, do you have any idea how expensive that is?” James said.

            “James is right.  We only have a couple hundred dollars.  We need to find something cheaper,” Logan said.

            “Just start driving, Logan,” said Kendall nervously, “they could start after us any second.”

            “Ok,” said Logan, pulling out of the parking lot.  He got on the highway and silence settled over the usually loud vehicle.

            “Everything’s going to be ok,” Kendall said, noticing that Anya was still shaking with fear, “They’ll never lay a hand on you again.  I promise.”

* * *

 

            They drove on for a few hours, not talking much.  Everybody was nervous, not knowing what was going to happen to them in the next few days. 

            “We should probably stop soon,” Logan remarked, breaking the silence, “It’s getting dark.”

            “Where are we?” Kendall asked.

            “Somewhere in Hanford, I think,” Logan replied.

            “Where’s Hanford?” James asked.

            “Three hours and thirty three minutes from LA.  Duh,” said Carlos, who’d been watching the clock for the entire ride.

            “Hey, Carlos, can you check the GPS to see what hotels there are around here?” Logan asked.

            “YES!” Carlos shouted excitedly.  He grabbed the GPS and searched for hotels.

            “Well, there’s a ‘Marvin’s Motel’ 3 miles from here…now it’s 4 miles…now it’s 4 and a half miles from here…”

            “What other hotels are there?” Kendall interrupted, not liking the sound of “Marvin’s Motel.”

            “Let’s see…there’s a Best Western 6 miles south of here…that’s the only one that I’ve heard of…the rest are just more motels.”

            “Then the Best Western it is,” said Logan and Carlos set the GPS to direct them there.

            About 10 minutes later Logan pulled into the parking lot of the worst Best Western that any of them had ever seen.  The building itself seemed to be falling apart.  The paint was peeling, there were a few broken windows.  As they watched, the front door burst open and a large, muscular, tattooed man stormed out.

            “I don’t like it here,” Carlos said quietly.

            “Me neither,” said Logan.

            “Well, where are we gonna stay, then?” Kendall asked.

            “Hey, isn’t our camping stuff still in the trunk?” James asked.

            “It should be.  I never took it out,” Logan said.

            “Neither did I,” said Kendall.

            “Woo hoo!  We’re going camping!” Carlos said excitedly.

            “Not exactly, Carlos,” said James, “There won’t be any campfire or s’mores or anything, we’re just going to sleep in the tent.”

            “Awww…” said Carlos, disappointed.

            “Here, see if you can find a camp site,” Logan said, handing the GPS to Carlos.

            “There aren’t any around here,” Carlos said after a few minutes of looking.

            “What’re we going to do, then?” Logan asked.

            “Well, we could just camp out in the woods somewhere,” Kendall suggested.

            “Is that really a good idea?” Logan asked nervously.

            “It’s better than staying in that Best Western over there.  Here, I saw a good place a few miles back.”  Kendall directed Logan to a place they could camp.  They decided to camp out near the road but far enough into the woods that they couldn’t be seen too well.  Logan parked on the grass.

            Kendall looked down at Anya, who had fallen asleep, her head on his shoulder.  “Hey,” he said softly, nudging her gently, “Anya.  Wake up.  We’re stopping for the night.” 

            “A little help over here,” Carlos squeaked.  Logan looked over and saw that he had somehow managed to tangle himself up in the tent.

            “Wow.  That has to be a new record,” James said, making no move to help his friend, “You managed to get tangled in less than a minute this time.”

            Logan sighed and went over to untangle his friend.

            “Why exactly do we keep letting Carlos pitch the tent?” Kendall asked, getting out of the car. 

            “Because it’s fun to see how long he takes to mess it up?” James suggested.

            Kendall went over to the open trunk of the car and frowned.  “Guys, we only have 4 sleeping bags.”

            “So?” Carlos asked, “That’s never been a problem before.”

            “Well, we’ve never had 5 people before,” Kendall retorted.

            “Do we have any blankets?” Logan asked, finishing up with the tent.

            “Uh…yeah.  We have a few,” Kendall replied.

            Logan took the blankets and sleeping bags and disappeared into the tent.  A few minutes he reappeared. 

            “Problem solved,” he announced.  Kendall went and peeked into the tent, Anya following him closely.  He saw that Logan had laid the sleeping bags all out on the ground and put the blankets on top so that they could all sleep together as if it was just one big bed.

            “Cool,” Kendall said, “I guess we’re set for the night.”  The five of them climbed into the tent and they all quickly fell asleep.

* * *

 

            For the next few days, the five teenagers drove around California, keeping within a few hours of Los Angeles.  Kendall called Mrs. Knight every day from various pay phones so that she knew that they were ok and wouldn’t worry.  In return, Mrs. Knight told him what was going on with them.

            “My mom says that the police are investigating Anya’s stepparents,” Kendall told his friends, coming back to the car after one such phone call, “They don’t have enough evidence to arrest them yet, but they should soon.”

            “And then we can go home?” Carlos said hopefully.

            “And then we can go home,” Kendall assured him.

            “It’ll be nice to sleep in a real bed again,” Logan said.  They’d been camping out every night because it was easier than finding a cheap but clean hotel.

            “Yeah.  Camping is fun and all, but all of this sleeping on the ground isn’t good for my complexion,” James said, scrutinizing himself in his mirror.

            “What does sleeping on the ground have to do with your skin?” Logan asked.

            “Oh, Logan.  You have so much to learn in the ways of beauty,” James replied, patting Logan on the head.

            “Did he just call me ugly?” Logan asked, confused.

            “Let’s get going,” Kendall suggested, “We don’t want the police to catch up with us.”

            A look of fear passed over Anya’s face upon hearing the word ‘police.’

            “Dude, do we even know that the police are following us?” James asked, “I haven’t seen a single police car since we left.”

            “Yeah.  If the police were trying to get us, wouldn’t we have seen a police officer by now?” Carlos suggested, “Ooh, wouldn’t it be cool if my dad was assigned to catch us?  I wonder if he’d take us out for ice cream…”

            “For one thing, your dad would never be assigned to come get us in California.  He pretty much stays back in Minnesota.  And two, I don’t think your dad would be all that happy to see us if he had to arrest us.”

            “Oh.”  Carlos’ face fell.

            “Come on.  Let’s get going,” James laughed as Logan started the car and they drove away.


	6. Chapter 6

            Kendall woke up feeling that something wasn’t right.  He looked around and noticed that he was sleeping in a tent.  That wasn’t new; he’d been doing that for about a week now.  Then it hit him: Anya wasn’t in the tent. 

            Panic gripped Kendall.  What happened?  Why wasn’t Anya in the tent with them?  What if her stepparents had kidnapped her while they’d been asleep?

            _Don’t be silly_ , Kendall thought to himself, _She probably just went outside for some reason._   Kendall took a few deep breaths, forcing the panicked feeling to go away.  Then he stepped outside, careful not to wake up any of his friends.

            Kendall blinked a few times in the bright moonlight.  Then he looked around.

            Sure enough, Anya was sitting on a large rock, her back turned towards him, staring off into the night sky.

            “Hey,” Kendall said, walking towards her. 

            Anya jumped a little and turned around, relaxing when she saw that it was Kendall.  She waved hello.

            “Sorry for startling you,” Kendall said, even though he startled her almost every time he came into the room, “Can I join you?”

            Anya nodded, moving over a bit to give Kendall a place to sit.

            “Couldn’t sleep?” Kendall asked after a few moments.

            Anya nodded.

            “That happens to me sometimes.  Come to think of it, it hasn’t happened for a while.  I guess Gustavo’s been working us so hard that it’s impossible to not be able to sleep.”

            Anya smiled and Kendall realized how much he loved her smile.  It made her go from a small, frightened puppy to a sweet, gentle butterfly.

            “Why couldn’t you sleep?  Were you having nightmares?” Kendall asked.

            The smile instantly vanished as Anya nodded her head.

            “I’m sorry,” Kendall said.

            Anya looked at Kendall quizzically.

            “It’s just not fair that so much bad stuff has happened to you.  Your parents are both dead, you’ve got worse stepparents than Cinderella did, you’ve been abused…and now you’re having nightmares about it all.  And you didn’t do a single thing to deserve any of it.  You’re one of the sweetest girls I’ve ever met.”

            Tears filled Anya’s eyes, spilling onto her face. 

            “I’m so sorry!” Kendall said, panicking again, “I didn’t mean to make you cry!”  He put his thumb on Anya’s cheek, wiping a tear away.

            Anya shook her head and smiled through her tears.  Then she hugged Kendall tightly.

            Slightly taken aback, Kendall slowly put his arms around her, returning the hug.             

            After Anya let go, the two of them sat on the rock, staring off into the sky, until Anya noticed that Kendall was falling asleep next to her.

            She shook him a little to wake him up.

            “Hm?  What?  Oh, hey, Anya,” he said, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes.

            Anya pointed to Kendall and then pointed to the tent.

            “You want me to go back into the tent?” Kendall asked, confused.

            Anya nodded.

            “So I can go to sleep?” Kendall continued, suddenly understanding what Anya was trying to tell him.

            Anya nodded eagerly.

            “Are you sure?”

            Anya nodded again.

            “Ok.  But if anything happens, don’t be afraid to come wake us up.”

            Anya nodded and nudged Kendall towards the tent.

            “Ok, ok, I’m going,” Kendall laughed.

            Once Anya saw that Kendall was in the tent, she turned back around and continued to stare off into the sky, lost in thought. 

* * *

            James noticed two unusual things when he woke up the next morning: one, he was the only person that had woken up and two, Anya was not in the tent.  Still a bit groggy, James left the tent, thinking about how weird it was that he was the first one up.  That never happened unless they had to be somewhere that morning, in which case James would set his alarm clock to go off an hour before everyone else’s so that he could use the bathroom for the amount of time required to make his hair absolutely perfect.

            Maybe Kendall, Logan, and Carlos were all dead.  That would explain why they weren’t awake yet.  Or maybe they’d inhaled toxic gas all night long, which had put them to sleep.  That would explain it, too.  Although it wouldn’t explain the fact that James clearly hadn’t been affected…oooh, maybe James had an immunity to the gas!  That would be pretty cool.

             Once outside of the tent, James stretched.  One thing he hated about tent camping, especially with five other people, was that it was so crowded.  Sometimes he felt like he had no room to sleep, which was fine for one or two nights, but after a week it had been starting to make him a bit sore.

            James looked around, taking in his surroundings.  Trees, trees, trees…hey, look, more trees.  James was a bit tired of seeing trees every morning when he woke up.  He’d rather see his bedroom back at the Palm Woods, with its posters of Nicole Scherzinger and Megan Fox tacked up on the walls, with Carlos sleeping (or sometimes just his empty bed) across the room surrounded by pictures of the himself, James, Kendall, and Logan.

            Out of the four of them, Carlos definitely had the most pictures of them and he liked to display all of them.  His wall was a collage of pictures of the four of them ranging from pee-wee hockey to Big Time Rush.  There were pictures from each championship hockey game, regardless if they won or not (although most of the time they did win), birthday parties, days at the amusement park, and, of course, every single ‘official’ Big Time Rush picture, whether it was from the CD booklet or a magazine.  James thought it was really sweet.  Sure, the rest of them had pictures of each other in their rooms, but none of their collections could even compare to Carlos’.

            James’ eyes fell on the figure before him, laying on a rock that was half-buried in the ground.  The sun was shining behind her so all he saw was a silhouette. 

            James went closer.  Anya was curled up on the rock, using her arm as a sort of a pillow.

            James pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw that it was 8:42.  Why wasn’t anybody else awake?  Were they really dead?  That would be kind of bad…

            “Hey, Anya,” James said, shaking Anya gently to wake her, “Hey.”

            Anya blinked a few times, as if trying to remember where she was, and then sat up. 

            “Good morning,” James said.

            Anya waved at him and looked around, as if looking for someone.

            “Everyone else is still sleeping,” James explained, “You wanna come help me wake them up?”

            Anya nodded eagerly and stood, following James into the tent.

            James pulled out two aerosol cans, in one hand his ‘Barracuda Hairspray’ and in his other ‘Barracuda Manspray: New and Improved Hypoallergenic Formula.’

            Positioning the cans so as to get maximum coverage, James pressed the buttons on the tops of the cans and the strong-smelling mists were released, assaulting his friends’ noses.

            Logan sat up, obviously startled, coughing violently.  “James!” he yelled, then coughed some more, “JAMES!  Quit it!”

            James remained oblivious to his friend’s words and kept spraying.

            Still coughing, Logan untangled himself from the make-shift bed thing and bolted out of the tent, gasping for breath.

            While this was going on, Kendall had woken up.  Or, rather, he had half woken up.  He laid there, still half asleep, trying to figure out what this horrible smell was and why it smelled so familiar.

            And then it came to him.

            “JAMES!” Kendall shouted, bolting to his feet, “WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT SPRAYING THAT STUFF IN HERE???? “

            “Mission accomplished,” James said, releasing his hold on the nozzles, blowing on them as if he was blowing out the smoke on a couple of guns he just shot, and pocketing the cans.

            Anya looked at him questioningly; Carlos still lay asleep in his corner of the tent.

            Kendall left the tent, shooting dirty looks at James, so that he wouldn’t have to smell the horrible mixture of hairspray and man-perfume any longer.

            “Now to wake up Carlos,” James said, half to Anya, half to himself, walking further into the tent.  James breathed in the familiar and somehow comforting smells.

            James looked down at his sleeping friend.  Carlos looked so peaceful, just sleeping there, hugging his helmet as if it were a stuffed animal.  But James knew very well that Carlos wouldn’t be looking peaceful for very long.

            James gently pried Carlos’ fingers off of his helmet and slowly lifted the helmet out of Carlos’ grasp.

            “HEY!  GIVE IT BACK!”  Carlos shouted, suddenly wide awake.  He sprang up and snatched the helmet back from James, pushing him as revenge for stealing his beloved helmet, not realizing that Anya was standing right behind him.

            The push forced James back a few steps.  Anya instantaneously jumped out of the way.

            “Whoa!” James said, tripping over the mess of sleeping bags and blankets underneath him, landing hard.

            Anya looked back and forth from Carlos to James, a very startled expression on her face.  Carlos, James, Kendall, and Logan stared at Anya, realizing that Carlos easily could have pushed James into her, causing him to fall on top of her.

            “How’d you do that?” Kendall asked her, amazed that she had been able to move out of the way so quickly.

            Anya shrugged, the startled look suddenly replaced by a shy and embarrassed one.

            “We’d better pack up.  We should get on the road,” Logan said after a few more seconds of silence, breaking the spell that seemed to have been cast over the group.

            Carlos slapped his helmet onto his head and started putting things into the Big Time Rush Mobile.

            “Aw, James, now the tent’s gonna smell like the ‘Cuda factory,” Kendall complained as he packed up.

            “That’s not exactly a bad thing, now is it?” James replied, carrying blankets and sleeping bags to the car.

            “Yes it is!” Kendall exclaimed, amazed at how oblivious his friend could be sometimes.

            As soon as all traces that the five teenagers had spent the night there were gone, Kendall, Logan, Carlos, James, and Anya piled into the car.  Logan eased the car back onto the road and they began to drive towards town in order to look for a pay phone.

* * *

 

            “Here we go,” Logan said, pulling into a parking lot, “There’s a phone right there.”

            “Ok.  I’ll be right back,” Kendall said, getting out of the car.  He went up to the phone and dialed the number he knew best.

            “Hello?”

            “Hey, Mom,” Kendall said.

            “Kendall!” Mrs. Knight cried, relieved to hear her son’s voice, as she was every day, “How is everything?”

            “Everything’s great,” Kendall said, “Except for the fact that James was the first one up so now the tent smells like 100 of him.  Oh and apparently Anya has cat-like reflexes.”

            “What?”

            “Long story.  Or stories, really.  Anyway, I have to go.”

            “Wait!” Mrs. Knight said, “I have good news!”

            “They arrested Anya’s stepparents?” Kendall guessed.

            “Uh-huh.  They have officially been arrested without bail for child abuse and child neglect and a whole bunch of other things,” Mrs. Knight told him.

            “Awesome!” Kendall said, “Does that mean we can come home now?”

            “I would hope so,” Mrs. Knight replied, “It’s too quiet around here without you boys.”

            “Cool!  I have to go tell the guys!  We’ll be home in, um…well, I’m not sure how far we are from LA right now but we’ll be home sometime before tomorrow.”

            “Ok.  I’ll see you soon.”

            “Bye, mom.  I love you.  Oh, and say hi to Katie for me.”

            “Will do.  Bye.  I love you, too.”

            Kendall hung up the phone and started for the car to tell his friends the great news. 

* * *

 

            “So we can go home now?” Carlos asked after Kendall had finished speaking.

            “Yes.  We can go home now,” Logan replied.

            “YES!” Carlos yelled.

            Anya just stared at Kendall in disbelief.

            “You ok?” Kendall asked her.

            Anya nodded, seeming a bit dazed. 

            “They caught your stepparents.  They’re going to be locked up for a long time.  You never have to worry about them again,” James said.

            Anya nodded again, a tear forming in the corner of her eye.  It found its way out onto her face.

            “Is that a happy tear or a sad tear?” Kendall asked as Logan started the car.

            Anya shrugged, quickly wiping it away. 

            “This is all probably just a bit overwhelming for her,” Logan said from the driver’s seat.

            Kendall and James nodded as the car descended into silence, allowing Anya to wrap her mind around what was happening.


	7. Chapter 7

            The five teenagers rode silently home, the only noises coming from the GPS as it told them how to get there. 

            “Can we have a party to celebrate?” Carlos suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

            “I don’t think that would be very appropriate,” Logan replied.

            “Aww…” said Carlos, disappointed.

            Kendall laughed.  “You can’t have a party to celebrate everything, Carlos,” he said.

            “Why not?” Carlos asked.

            “Because, knowing you, we’d be living in one perpetual party,” Logan said.

            “And what’s wrong with that?” James asked.

            “Being the hosts, you two would never be able to get any sleep,” Kendall said.

            “And you’d never have any time to do your hair,” Logan added.

            “Ah!” James screamed, his hands clutching his beautiful hair.

            “Exactly,” said Kendall.

            The rest of the ride was silent, except for the sound of Carlos’ snores from the front seat.

            After about two hours, they arrived at the Palm Woods.  Logan parked in the parking lot, which was located across the street from the building that they called home.

            The five of them exited the car, taking the backpacks that contained their things, and crossed the street (after looking both ways, of course).  They were all glad to be home.  

* * *

             Up in apartment 2J, Katie was watching Fox News. 

            “ _This just in.  Wayne and Gertrude Hawkinson, who were arrested just this morning on various charges including child abuse and child neglect, have escaped from the prison where they were being held.  If you see either of them, please call the police immediately.  Do not, under any circumstances, go near them.  They have been labeled as dangerous—”_

            “WHAT?!?!” Katie shouted.

            “Katie?  What’s wrong?” Mrs. Knight asked, coming into the room.

            “Anya’s stepparents escaped!”

            “WHAT?!” Mrs. Knight yelled, dropping the load of laundry that she was carrying.

            “We have to warn Kendall…” Katie said, searching for a phone.

            “We can’t,” Mrs. Knight said worriedly, glancing at the four cell phones on the counter that hadn’t been touched in over a week.

* * *

             “Ah, hockey pucks!  I forgot my iPod!” Kendall said after crossing the street.

            “Well, go get it, then!” James said, a bit annoyed.  He just wanted to get home so he could properly wash his hair.  Was that too much to ask?

            “I’ll be right back,” Kendall said, putting his backpack down on the concrete sidewalk.  He started out into the street.

            Anya watched as Kendall crossed the street and unlocked the car door, retrieving his music player.  He looked both ways and then began to cross back towards them.

            Anya looked down the street and saw a small, white, dented car speeding towards Kendall.  She knew that car well enough to know that it wasn’t going to stop.

            Kendall slipped his iPod into his pocket and then looked up.  He saw a small white car coming towards him and quickened his pace.  It never occurred to him that the car might not stop for him.

            Anya darted out into the street and crashed into Kendall, pushing him out of the way of the car.  Kendall skidded across the pavement, scraping up his limbs.  He heard a large thump and the sound of a car speeding away.  Kendall scrambled to his feet.

            The first thing he saw was blood.  Lots and lots of blood.  In the middle of all the blood was a girl.

            Anya.

            Kendall ran to her. 

            “James, call 911!” he heard Logan say, but it sounded really far away. 

            Suddenly Logan was there, next to him.  He grabbed her wrist, oblivious of the blood.

            “She’s alive,” Logan announced, “But just barely.”

            She was alive.

            But she could be dying.

            No.

            “No!” Kendall shouted, tears gathering in his eyes.  It wasn’t fair.  It just wasn’t fair.

            “It’s alright, Kendall, everything’s gonna be alright.  She’s not dead yet, so—”

            “No!” Kendall shifted his gaze to Logan.  “She’s not dead and she’s not going to die!  Don’t even think about implying that she’s gonna die!  That is not an option!”

            “I didn’t mean—”

            “I don’t care what you meant!  She’s not gonna die and we’re not gonna talk like she is!”

            “Ok!” Logan said, for the first time in his life feeling fear towards his friend.

            Kendall looked back at Anya.

            “We have to help her!  Logan, do something!”

            “I-I don’t know what to do!” Logan said helplessly, “I don’t want to make it worse!”

            Sirens started up in the distance.

            “Logan, you’re not gonna make her worse than she already is!  You’ve been studying for this sort of thing all your life!  Do something!”

            “I never studied emergency medicine!” Logan protested while simultaneously trying to figure out what to do.

            “I don’t care!  DO SOMETHING!”

            The sirens grew louder.

            “Uh…Kendall, give me your jacket!”

            Kendall tore his jacket off and handed it to his friend.  Logan pressed the jacket to Anya’s abdomen, where it appeared that most of the bleeding was coming from. 

* * *

             “Carlos, go up and get Mrs. Knight,” James said, eyes glued to the bloody mess in front of him.

            Without a word, Carlos turned and ran into the Palm Woods.

* * *

            “I think the bleeding’s letting up a bit,” Logan said.

            Kendall just looked at Anya tensely, as if his gaze would help stop the bleeding.

            The sirens grew louder as an ambulance came down the street, stopping a few feet away from the growing pool of blood.  Two EMTs jumped out.

            “Stand back,” one of them said.  Kendall reluctantly stepped out of the way.  The EMT took the jacket from Logan, who went over by Kendall.  The two boys watched as the EMTs put bandages on Anya’s head and abdomen and gently lifted her onto a stretcher.

            “Is she gonna be ok?” James asked from behind them, making Logan nor Kendall jump.

            The EMTs looked at each other and the older one, a man with graying hair and a chevron mustache, said, “We’ll do the best we can.”

            Without another word, the EMTs loaded the stretcher holding Anya into the ambulance and drove away, sirens blaring.

            Kendall, James, and Logan somehow made it to the sidewalk and stood there, staring at the huge puddle of blood staining the road, until they heard a scream.

            They all turned towards the source of the sound and saw Mrs. Knight, Katie, and Carlos standing outside the Palm Woods.

            Mrs. Knight rushed over to them.

            “Are you boys ok?  Are any of you hurt?  ” she asked, inspecting each of them.

            The boys looked down; Logan and Kendall were covered in blood.

            “We-we’re fine, Mom,” Kendall said.

            “Are you sure?”         

            “Yeah.  We’re sure,” James said.

            “It was just Anya that got hit,” Logan added, “She-she pushed Kendall out of the way.”

            Kendall’s eyes widened; he hadn’t realized that Anya had saved him.  Sure, it all made perfect sense, but it had all happened so fast…it had just never occurred to him.

            Oh my God…Anya had saved his life…she had almost died…she could be dying right now…because of him.

            Kendall took another look at the huge red spot in the middle of the street.  That was all Anya’s blood.  It had all come from her body.  That was a lot of blood…

            Kendall bent over and began to throw up. 

            “You ok, Kendall?” Katie asked, her brown eyes huge with worry.

            “Yeah.  I’m fine,” Kendall said when he was able to.

            “We should go,” James suggested.

            Everyone nodded and Mrs. Knight, Katie, Carlos, James, Logan, and Kendall all piled into Mrs. Knight’s rental minivan and they drove to the hospital.


	8. Chapter 8

            Kendall went back to the seat in the ER waiting room that he’d been sitting in for the past hour and thought about what the nurse had said.

            Anya had a lot of internal bleeding, she had a concussion, she had a few broken ribs, a broken arm, and, of course, she had lost a lot of blood.  They were somehow giving her a blood transfusion as they performed surgery on her abdomen.  The doctors thought that she might even go into a coma soon.

            Anya was in pretty bad shape.

            “Kendall,” Logan said, walking over to him, “You ok?”

            Kendall took a deep breath to collect himself.

            “Yeah.  I’m fine.”

            Logan sat down as Kendall wiped his clammy hands on his pants for the millionth time.  He could feel the sweat running down his face.  He tried to hide his shaking hands by passing a wad of tissues back and forth between them.

            Another thing that he had learned today: Anya’s last name.  Petrović.  Anastasia Petrović.  Such a pretty name…

            “Kendall?”

            Kendall looked down and saw his younger sister, Katie, looking at him with a worried expression on her little face.

            “Is everything going to be ok?”

            “I hope so, Katie.  I really hope so.”

* * *

              After what felt like an eternity, another nurse came into the waiting room.

            “Anastasia Petrović?” she said.  Kendall sprang up and almost ran to the nurse, closely followed by his mom, sister, and friends.

            “How is she?” he immediately asked.

            “Well, the surgery was a success but it doesn’t look too good.  I’m sorry.”

            The group stood in a stunned silence for a few moments.

            “What exactly is wrong with her?” Logan finally asked.

            “Well, as you heard before, she’s got a few broken bones, she lost a lot of blood but they gave her a successful blood transfusion, she tore up her abdomen but they successfully fixed that, and she’s got some pretty bad head trauma.  She could lapse into a coma at any minute.”

            “If-if she does wake up, will she have any-any brain damage?” Katie asked.

            “It’s too early to tell,” the nurse said.

            “Can we see her?” Carlos asked.

            “Yes.  Follow me.”

            “Now, Kendall,” Logan began as they went to Anya’s room, “I’m just warning you, Anya’s not going to look...well, she’s not going to look like she normally does.”

            “Duh,” said Kendall.

            “Yeah, but I don’t think you understand how...how drastic it’ll be.”

            “Meaning?”

            By this time they had reached Anya’s hospital room.  Kendall hung back a bit as everybody else went in so that he was the last one to enter the room.

            Nothing could have prepared Kendall for what he was about to see. 

            Anya’s skin was grey, almost blending in with the sheets on her bed.  There was a bandage on her head and her arm was in a cast.  Remembering what the nurse had said, Kendall figured that her chest and abdomen were covered in bandages, too.  There was a tube going into her nose, to help her breath.  There was an IV attached to her arm, delivering something to her bloodstream.  There were wires attached to different parts of her body, monitoring her heart rate, her breathing, and who knew what else.

            Kendall could feel the hot tears gathering in his eyes, wanting out.  But he wasn’t going to cry.  He couldn’t.  What if Anya woke up and saw him?  It would scare her half to death if she saw him crying.

            Kendall sank into a chair, afraid that his knees would buckle under him.  He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see James.  His face was as white as a sheet, but even so, he tried to comfort his friend.

            “She’ll be ok,” he choked out, and Kendall saw that he, too, was on the verge of tears.  Then he looked around.

            They all were.

* * *

             After about three hours, Kendall was the only one left in the hospital room.  Carlos hadn’t been able to take it; James had taken him home two hours ago.  James had insisted that he himself was fine but Kendall could tell that he, too, had been badly shaken by this.  Mrs. Knight and Katie had gone home about a half an hour after that, when Mrs. Knight had finally noticed Katie trying to hold back her tears.  Logan had stayed with Kendall for about an hour after that but had left, saying that he wanted to look some things up in his various medical dictionaries back at the Palm Woods. 

            That left Kendall.

            Kendall just sat there, trying to hold back his tears.  Anya could wake up any minute, and if she saw him crying...

            Happy thoughts.  Happy thoughts.  Kendall needed to think happy thoughts.  Like...like...

            Kendall couldn’t think of any happy thoughts.

            He sighed and buried his head in his hands. 

            “Excuse me?”

            Kendall looked up to see a pretty young nurse standing at the door.

            “Visiting hours are over in 5 minutes.”

            Kendall nodded and stood up.  He took one last longing look at Anya and then left the room.

* * *

            Kendall had no idea how he’d made it back to the Palm Woods.  One second he was leaving the hospital and when he looked up, there he was.  He went inside and headed towards the elevators.

            Nobody said anything to him.  They all ignored him as if he were a stranger.  Kendall was glad; he just needed to be alone.

            When Kendall entered the apartment, he went straight to his room.  No one said anything to him.  They could see that he didn’t want to talk.

* * *

 

            The next few days were very similar to this one.  Kendall, James, Carlos, and Logan, sometimes accompanied by Mrs. Knight and Katie, would get up and head to the hospital.  By the end of the day, Kendall would be the only one left.  Gradually, everybody else stopped coming entirely: first it was Carlos, closely followed by James, then Katie, then even Logan stopped coming.  Mrs. Knight continued to drive Kendall to the hospital every day, sometimes stopping in to check on Anya’s condition.  But even she didn’t stay very long.  Nobody could take the sight of Anya lying there, looking so helpless, so...dead.


	9. Chapter 9

            Kendall faithfully went and sat by Anya at the hospital every day.  Sometimes Logan came along, more to keep him company than anything else.  Every so often James would come, and Carlos came once or twice more. 

            Carlos didn’t like hospitals very much; there was just so much pain and suffering there.  He couldn’t take it.

            And although he would never admit it, James was sort of creeped out by hospitals, too.  All those needles...just the thought made him shudder.  So he stayed home, saying that he wanted to keep Carlos company.

            As for Logan...well, this just hit a bit too close to home for him.  Sure, he loved the doctor stuff; under normal circumstances, he would be willing to pay his entire week’s allowance to be able to visit the hospital or a doctor’s office.  But it was different when you knew the patient.  Especially when that patient could be dying.

* * *

 

            Every morning, Kendall would awaken at 6:30.  He would take a shower, brush his teeth, throw his clothes on, run a brush through his hair, and then head over to the hospital so he got there at 8, when the hospital opened to visitors.  He would immediately go to Anya’s room, where the doctor or a nurse would usually be waiting.  They would tell him about any change in Anya’s condition, or, more often, just shake their heads at him to signify that nothing had changed.  Then Kendall would sit in the chair next to Anya’s bed, hoping, willing her to wake up, until visiting hours ended at 9 o’clock.

* * *

             On one such day, about 5 days after the accident, Kendall was sitting by himself in the chair next to Anya’s bed.  There had been no change in her condition, but Kendall refused to lose hope.  She was going to wake up any second.  He just knew it.

* * *

             As Kendall stared thoughtfully at the girl in front of him, he thought he saw some movement from her eyes, almost like she was trying to open them.

            “Anya?” Kendall said, hoping that the sound of his voice would encourage her to wake up.  “Anya, can you hear me?”

            After what seemed like an eternity, Anya’s eyes finally opened.  She looked around, a bewildered look on her face, only relaxing when she seemed to realize where she was.  Then she started to feel her hospital gown as if she was looking for a pocket.

            “Are you looking for this?” Kendall asked, taking the letter that he’d learned the girl’s name from off of the night table next to the bed.

            Anya nodded, a relieved look spreading over her face.  Kendall handed it to her.

            “I thought you might want it, so I took it out of your pocket when they brought you here,” he explained as Anya looked the note over, as if checking to make sure it was intact.  She sadly ran her fingers over the new rust-colored stains dotting the edges.

            “I was surprised that there wasn’t more blood on it,” Kendall said, “Actually, I’m surprised that it survived so well.  I was expecting it to have at least ripped or something.”

            Anya didn’t seem to hear him as she folded the paper back up and looked at it thoughtfully, as if she were making a decision.  She looked at the letter and then back at Kendall.  Taking one last look at the letter, she held it out to Kendall.

            “You want me to put it back on the table?” Kendall asked her.

            Anya shook her head.

            “Then…do you want me to…read it?”

            Anya nodded.

            Kendall carefully opened the letter and began to read.

            _Dear Anna,_

_I don’t have much time left, but everything’s all ready for you.  I put all of my money into a trust fund so that you’ll have money when you get older.  I put most of our family heirlooms, your baby albums and things, and a lot of my and Daddy’s personal possessions into a safe deposit box at Niagara Bank so that it will be safe.  I already gave you the key to the box; go to my lawyer, Nathanial Park, in order to get the number._

_Wayne will watch over you until you turn eighteen.  I know he isn’t the ideal guardian, but he was the best I could do.  I set it up with Mr. Park so that it is physically impossible for him to have access to your trust fund or the safe deposit box so that everything will remain intact for you.  I don’t fully trust the man, but I think he will be good enough for the few years until you reach adulthood. Oh, how I wish I could have lived to see you grow up!  But I promise, I will be watching over you always and I will keep you safe._

_If you ever need anything, for any reason, whether you are in trouble, you don’t feel safe, whatever, go to Mr. Park.  His office is located at 863 27 th street in Los Angeles.  He will help you no matter what.  _

_I love you, my Anastasia.  I’m sorry that I have to go now, but there are just some things that we can’t control.  When you think of me, I do not want you to be sad.  You must think of all the good times we’ve had together.  I’ll miss you._

_Love,_

_Mama <3_

Kendall finished reading, his mind a jumble of questions of thoughts, but by the time he looked up at Anya, she was out cold.

* * *

            The next day, Kendall again found himself sitting in the chair next to Anya’s bed.  He thought about the previous day’s events.

            After Kendall had finished reading then note, he had pressed the button that called the nurse to the room.  He told her about how he thought that Anya had been awake a few minutes before; Kendall wasn’t sure if he had dreamt the past 30 minute or if they had really happened.  By looking at the various machines she was hooked up to, the nurse was able to determine that yes, Anya had been awake.

            Kendall had breathed a sigh of relief.  He’d been afraid that he’d just read the letter without Anya’s permission.

            After that, the doctors and nurses ran a menagerie of tests on Anya but discovered that nothing had really changed.  They weren’t able to figure out why or how she’d woken up.  They also weren’t able to tell Kendall when she would wake up again.

            So all there was left for Kendall to do was wait.


	10. Chapter 10

            And Kendall waited.  And waited.  And waited.

            In fact, he waited for 2 more weeks.

            By this time, the bandage had been taken off Anya’s head, leaving a faint scar that might or might not go away.  The bandage on her abdomen was changed every so often to prevent infection; the doctors thought that they would be able to take it off for good soon.  Even her bones were healing normally.  So why didn’t she wake up?

            Although he didn’t know it, Kendall was spiraling downward in a sort of a depression.  Each and every day he lost more and more hope that Anya was ever going to wake up. 

            He couldn’t take it anymore.  He couldn’t deal with all the suspense.  If Anya was going to do something, she needed to just do it already.  If she was going to wake up, then she needed to wake up.  If she was going to die, then she needed to die.

            Kendall really preferred it if she chose to wake up.

            But why wouldn’t she wake up already?  She had people that were waiting for her…what if she had just given up?  What if she’d forgotten about the past few weeks and thought that she still lived with her awful stepparents?  

            That would be more than enough for someone to lose the will to live.

            “Hey, Anya,” Kendall said, hoping that she would hear him and be reminded that he had a family waiting for her, “We’re all worried about you.  I-we wish you’d wake up already.”  Kendall paused, not sure what to say.

            “I’ve been here every day since the accident.  I’m waiting for you, you know.  I’m waiting for you to wake up. We all are.  Carlos has been doing the craziest stunts lately, trying to take his mind off of all of this.  James has been experimenting with new hair care products.  Yesterday I went home to find him with the world’s frizziest hair.”  Kendall chuckled softly, “He was not happy.  Logan has been reading all of his medical dictionaries, I think half to calm himself down and half to figure out exactly what’s wrong with you.  Katie’s been alternating between trying to think up ways to help you wake up and finding stuff for you to do once you do wake up.  Even my mom’s been cleaning the apartment non-stop.  She always does that when she’s worried or stressed.”  Kendall’s voice caught a little.  “We all miss you.”

            With that, Kendall finally broke.  He burst into tears.

            “Why, Anya?” he cried, tears pouring from his face, “Why’d you have to do such a stupid thing?”  Overcome with emotion, Kendall couldn’t say any more.  He sat there, sobbing uncontrollably into his hands.  At this point, he didn’t care if anyone saw him like this.  There was no hope.  Anya was going to die and it would be his fault.

            “Why?” he repeated, the word coming out as a whisper.

            Suddenly a voice that Kendall had never heard before filled his ears.

            “I couldn’t let you die.”


	11. Chapter 11

            “I couldn’t let you die.”

            Kendall jerked his head up to see Anya’s huge brown eyes looking back at him.

            Anya tried to sit up, wincing as she did so.  Kendall just stared at her in complete shock.

            Anya gave up and lay back against the pillow. 

            “If Wayne had hit you, you would have died.  I couldn’t let that happen.”  Anya looked at Kendall, fear flashing in her eyes.  “Are you mad at me?”

            Her voice was beautiful.  It was more...more childlike than Kendall ever would have imagined, but that made it all the sweeter.  It was perfect. 

            “Mad at you?” Kendall repeated incredulously, “How could I ever be mad at you?”

            Anya broke into a huge smile as she relaxed against the bed, her fear disappearing.

            “How did you know I was going to die?” Kendall asked her, “I mean...what makes you think I would have?”

            Anya shrugged.

            “You just knew?”

            Anya nodded.

            “Who’s Wayne?” Kendall asked.

            “My stepfather,” Anya answered shortly.

            Kendall nodded .

            There was a pause.

            “Just think of it as my way of saying thank you,” Anya suddenly said.

            “Thank you?  What for?” Kendall asked, confused.

            “For everything,” Anya said.

            The two sat in silence for a few minutes.  Kendall watched as Anya looked at the cast on her arm curiously.

            “You broke your arm and a few of your ribs.  Plus you got a nasty concussion,” Kendall told her.

            Anya took her finger and began to trace over the signatures on her arm in wonder.  She saw Logan’s, James’, Carlos’, Katie’s...ah, there was Kendall’s.

            “We all signed your cast a few weeks ago, back when you first got it.  Carlos was too impatient to wait for you to wake up so we all just signed with him.”

            Anya looked up at him questioningly.

            “What day is it?” she asked.

            “The 29th,” Kendall replied.

            Anya paled slightly.

            “You were in a coma for 19 days,” Kendall told her.

            “Wow,” Anya whispered so quietly that Kendall hardly heard her.

            “It was scary,” Kendall said softly, dropping his gaze to his lap.

            The two sat in silence for a few moments until Kendall pulled his phone out of his pocket.  He stared at if for a few moments.

            “I have to tell the guys you’re awake.”

* * *

             “I’m starting to get worried about Kendall,” Logan said, pouring freshly popped popcorn into a bowl so that he could watch a movie with James and Carlos.

            “Why?” asked Carlos, stuffing his face with a corndog.

            “Have you seen him lately?  He always looks exhausted and I don’t think that he’s been eating much of anything.  All of this is taking its toll on him.”

            “Well, can you blame him?  Anya’s been in a coma for what, three weeks now?  He’s just worried.”  James paused to take a handful of popcorn.  “We all are.”

            “Yeah, but—”

            “Oh, stop worrying, Logan,” Carlos said, popping Finding Nemo into the DVD player, “Something good’s gonna happen today.  I just know it.”

            “Good for you or good for all of us?” James asked, remembering the last time that Carlos had ‘just known’ that something good was going to happen.  No one else found the sale on corndog to be very exciting.

            “All of us, I think,” Carlos said, pressing ‘play,’ “Now shhh.  I don’t want to miss anything.”

            “You’ve seen this movie 10,000 times.  What does it matter—”

            “Shhhh!”

            Just then, Logan’s phone rang.

            “Aw, come on!” Carlos shouted in frustration, pausing the movie.

            “Hello?  Kendall?” Logan said into the phone as he retreated to the kitchen to get away from the noise.  James and Carlos immediately perked up and followed him.

            “She is?  Really?”

            James and Carlos looked at each other, trying to figure out what Logan was talking about.

            Logan’s eyes suddenly widened.  “She did???” he asked incredulously.

            Carlos began tapping his foot impatiently.

            “Ok, we’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”  Logan hung up the phone and looked at his friends.

            “Anya’s awake!”


	12. Chapter 12

            As Kendall lay in bed that night, he thought about what had happened that day.  No less than 15 minutes after he had called Logan, his friends and family had arrived at the hospital.  By that time the news had fully sunk in.  Kendall was sure that he was grinning like an idiot but he didn’t care. 

            The doctor told them that Anya’s condition had drastically improved over the past few hours and she was now stable.  They’d even been able to take the device that helped her breathe out of her nose, but she still had to be attached to the IV and the heart monitor.

They had each gone in, one at a time, to visit with Anya.  Except for Kendall—Anya had wanted him to stay with her the whole time, so he did. 

            Logan had been fascinated with all of the medical equipment.  He had spent the entire time he was in there explaining what each machine and gadget that Anya was hooked up to did, which Anya had found amusing.

            Carlos had wanted to play with Anya, but that was difficult since she still couldn’t get out of bed.  So Carlos had instead planned out each and every thing that that they were going to do together as soon as Anya was released from the hospital.

            The entire time that James had been in the room, he’d been distracted by the pretty young nurse that was looking at all of the monitors surrounding Anya.  He had tried to ignore her and focus on Anya, but it was hard. 

            And Katie had brought _Anne of Windy Poplars_ , the fourth book of the _Anne of Green Gables_ series, which Anya had been reading before the accident.  Katie had then started discussing the series with Anya, even though she absolutely hated it.

            Anya had seemed surprised that all of these people cared about her so much.  It was the sweetest thing, but heartbreaking at the same time.  It was as if Anya had expected them to just abandon her or something.

            And no matter what Kendall said, Anya didn't believe that he would come back tomorrow.

            Kendall felt so bad...he wished that he hadn’t had to go.  He would have stayed he whole night if they’d let him.

            Tomorrow he’d show Anya that he always kept his promises.  Maybe he should also get her a get well soon present...

            Present.

            Hockey pucks.  Katie’s birthday had been, what, a month ago?  And Kendall had never given her the gift he’d gotten her.  Come to think of it, they’d never celebrated her birthday.

            And Katie hadn’t said anything about it.

* * *

             Kendall awoke the next morning to the sound of his alarm clock blaring.  He quickly got up and got ready for the day.  He wanted to be at the hospital early so that he would be there as soon as visiting hours began.

            Kendall went out in the common area of the apartment to find Katie sitting at the table.

            “Hey, Baby Sister,” he said.

            “Hey, Big Brother,” Katie replied.

            “I just remembered last night that we forgot about your birthday,” Kendall said.

            A look of surprise came on to Katie’s face.  “Oh yeah.  I forgot about that.”

            “So when this is all over we’ll have to celebrate, ok?” Kendall said.

            “Sounds good,” said Katie with a grin.

* * *

             Kendall arrived at the hospital ten minutes before 8 o’clock, when visiting hours began.  He went straight to the waiting room of the wing that Anya was in.

            “I don’t suppose it’s possible for me to see Anya a bit early?” he asked the receptionist, who had come to know him in the past 3 weeks that he’d practically spent at the hospital.

            She gave him a sympathetic smile.  “I’m sorry.  I’ll get in trouble if I let you in early,” she said.

            Kendall nodded.  “I understand,” he said and went to sit in one of the waiting room chairs to wait.

            Kendall picked up a magazine and tried to read it, but his eyes kept straying to the clock.  The minutes seemed to tick by so slowly.

            After what seemed like an eternity, the minute hand finally reached the 12 on the clock.  Kendall tossed his magazine on the table along with the other ones and went to Anya’s room, smiling at the receptionist as he passed her.

            Kendall tapped on the door to Anya’s room before pushing the door open.

            “Hey, Anya,” he said, seeing that she was awake.

            Anya’s head jerked up and she looked at Kendall with a look of disbelief.

            “You came,” she said quietly, almost like she was afraid that he would disappear at any second.

            “Of course I came,” Kendall said, “I promised, remember?”

            “Wayne never came,” Anya whispered, looking away.

            But not before Kendall saw the tears gathering in her eyes.

            “Hey,” Kendall said softly, trying to catch her eye, “That chapter of your life is over.  You’re safe now.  You never have to see him again.  You don’t even have to think about him if you don’t want to.”

            “He used to hit me so much...” Anya whispered, on the verge of tears, “He would come home, so drunk he could hardly stand, and he would hit me, over and over again...”  the tears spilled onto her face and began to stream down her cheeks, “Then they would lock me in the closet.  That wasn’t so bad because it meant that they weren’t hitting me.  But then they would just forget about me...they would leave me in there for days and days and days...”  Anya could no longer speak for the sobs that escaped her throat.

            “Come here,” he said, taking her in his arms, careful not to dislodge the wires that monitored her vital signs.

            Kendall held Anya in his arms as she sobbed, thinking about how much he hated seeing her like this.  He hated what had happened to her.  It just wasn’t fair. 

            “None of that will ever happen to you again, Anya.  Nobody will ever hit you, or punch you, or slap you, or lock you away or anything ever again.” 

After a few moments, Kendall pulled away.

            “They didn’t ever...you know...sexually abuse you?” Kendall asked.

            Anya quickly shook her head. “Never.  They just hit me and-and locked me away...”

            “Thank God,” Kendall whispered as he held Anya close. 


	13. Chapter 13

            Anya fought back tears as she lay in the hospital bed.  They were not tears of sadness, however; no, she was probably the happiest girl in the world. 

            They were tears of pain. 

            Anya’s head hurt, her arm hurt, her ribs hurt, her abdomen hurt...it seemed like her entire body was screaming in pain.

            Why was it hurting now?  It never used to hurt.  All those times that Wayne and Gertrude had hit her...it didn’t really hurt.  It was like her body had been blocking off the pain. 

            So why wasn’t it doing that now?

            There was nothing she could do about it.  If she used the pain medication, she would be weak.  That’s what Wayne had always said.  She had to be able to take the pain.  Wayne had always insisted that he hit her like he did to “toughen her up.”  If she took any pain medications, it would all have been in vain.

            And she couldn’t cry, either.  Tears were another sign of weakness.  If she cried, she would be hit harder, as punishment.  Even though she was alone, she couldn’t cry.  It would be too obvious.

            Anya looked at the clock.  It was 7: 54.  Kendall would be there in six minutes.  Anya couldn’t let him see her cry again.  Yesterday she had been weak.  She couldn’t be weak any longer.

            Anya took deep breathes, trying to calm herself down.  She had to ignore the pain.  Ignore the pain.  Ignore the pain.

            Anya looked at the clock again.  7: 58.  Anya was no longer on the verge of tears, but she wasn’t sure if she could stay that way.  Especially if Kendall came.  Correction: _when_ Kendall came.

            There was a knock at the door.  Anya let out a tiny gasp as her eyes darted to the clock.  8:00.  No.  Not yet.  Just a few more minutes...

            “Hey, Anya,” Kendall said, pushing the door open.  He frowned when he saw her.  “What’s wrong?”

            Anya tried to give Kendall her best “what do you mean?” look.

            “You know, if you push that button, pain medication is put into your blood stream so you feel better,” Kendall said.

            Anya quickly shook her head.  This was clearly a test.

            “Are you sure?” Kendall asked her.  

            Anya nodded.

            “You know, it’s perfectly ok if you need pain medication.  That’s what it’s there for.  Nobody will think any less of you if you take it.”

            Anya nodded, but made no move to push the button.

            Kendall sighed.  “Well, do whatever you want,” he said.

* * *

            That night, Kendall paced the apartment angrily as James, Carlos, and Logan tried to calm him down.

            “I just don’t get it.  She’s clearly in so much pain yet she refused to take any pain meds,” Kendall said.

            “Maybe she’s afraid of getting addicted to them,” James offered.

            “I don’t think so...” Kendall said, “I’m not sure that she knows that’s even possible.”

            “Maybe it has something to do with her abuse,” Logan suggested.

            “Possibly,” Kendall conceded, “But it’s just so hard to see her like that.  Especially when I know that it’s my fault!”

            “It’s not your fault,” Carlos said, hating to see his friend like this.

            “Yes it is!  If I had just been paying more attention I would have seen that stupid car and Anya never would have had to push me out of the way!”

            “Easy, Kendall.  Indoor voices,” James said.

            “It’s not your fault.  It’s all Anya’s stepfather’s fault,” Logan said.

            “Yeah.  He was driving the car.  And he kept going on purpose,” Carlos added.

             “I don’t care what you guys say, some of the blame goes to me.”  Kendall sighed.  “I’m going to bed.”

* * *

             The next morning, Kendall arrived at the hospital about a minute early.  He walked over to Anya’s hospital room, but he didn’t go in.  Instead he looked through the little window next to the door.

            Kendall scowled.  Anya looked like she was in so much pain right now.  Why didn’t she just use the pain medication?  What did she think it was there for, decoration? 

            It pained Kendall to see Anya like that.  It was all his fault.  If he had just seen the car and moved out of the way then Anya wouldn’t be here right now.  She would be back at the apartment hanging out with him and the guys, getting to know them better.  But no.  Kendall had just had to get his stupid iPod out of the stupid car.

            Finally, it was 8 o’clock.  Kendall knocked on the door, pushing it open gently.

            “Hey, Anya,” he said as cheerfully as he could, plastering a smile on his face.  Anya couldn’t know that he’d been spying on her.

            Anya turned towards him and waved her hello.  A concerned expression immediately made its way onto her face.

            “What’s wrong?” she asked.

            “Nothing.  Nothing’s wrong.  I’m fine,” Kendall said, a bit surprised at the question.  _Except that you refuse to press the button_ he added silently in his head.

            “No, you’re not.  See?  You’ve got worry lines all over your face.”  Anya reached out and traced the grooves etched into his features. 

            “I said I’m fine!” Kendall snapped, pushing Anya’s hand away.  His eyes immediately widened as he realized what he had done.  “Oh my God,” he whispered, “Anya, I’m so sorry-I didn’t mean to-”

            Anya just stared at Kendall.  She’d had known that it was going to happen sooner or later.

* * *

             In the space of a single second, Anya was transported back in time. 

            _“No one with ever like you!”_ Wayne yelled at her as he hit her over and over again, _“You’re just a waste of space!  A waste of a life form!  You’ll have to live on the streets!  You’ll never have any friends and you’ll be alone your entire life, so repulsive that even animals run away from you!”_

* * *

            Wayne was right.  Nobody would ever like her.  She was just a waste of space.

            Before Kendall could react, Anya had sprung out of the bed, torn the IV out of her arm, pulled every wire attached to her off of her body, and had rushed out of the room.

            “Anya!  Stop!” Kendall called, bolting to his feet.  He began to run after her and tripped over a chair.  He untangled himself from it and ran out of the room.

            “Anya!” he called.  He looked down the hall.  Was that Anya, turning the corner?  It had to be.  Who else would be running?

            “Anya!” Kendall called, sprinting towards her.

* * *

             Anya ran as fast as she could away from Kendall.  Who knew what he might do next?

            She raced through the hallway, dodging doctors and nurses.  If anybody tried to stop her, Anya didn’t notice—first of all, she was going too fast for them to catch her, and second, she didn’t care.  She just knew that she had to get away.

            “Anya!” she heard someone call, “Anya stop.  Please!”

            No.  There was no way that she was going to stop.

            Eventually, Anya stopped hearing Kendall call for her.  Had she lost him?  Anya wasn’t sure, so she kept running.

            Anya ran until she felt like her muscles would explode.  She felt a bit dizzy and lightheaded; Anya realized that the faster she ran, the less she felt it.  Black spots soon began to dance before her eyes as she gasped for breath.  Anya knew that she couldn’t hold out much longer.

            Anya slowed down as the world began to spin.  The spots grew bigger and bigger until they completely blocked her vision.  Anya felt a vague sensation, almost as if she were falling, and then…nothing.

* * *

            Kendall let his feet take him wherever they wanted to as he ran through the hospital hallways.  Hopefully they would lead him to Anya.

            Kendall heard a thud coming from somewhere not too far away from him.  Kendall didn’t think much of it, but his feet did.  He unconsciously turned in the direction that the sound had come from.  Within minutes, he skidded to a stop.

            “Anya,” he breathed, seeing the girl lying in a crumpled heap on the floor.  He knelt down next to her and shook her shoulder a little.

            “Anya,” he called softly.  When she didn’t respond, he gathered the senseless girl in his arms, careful to rest her head on his chest so that it wouldn’t loll around, and carried her back to her hospital room.

            “What happened?  What’s going on?” the awaiting doctor asked as Kendall entered the room.

            “I accidentally scared her and she started to run.  I found her like this,” Kendall said calmly.

            “Well, no wonder.  She hardly has enough strength to stand.  How long would you say she was running?” the doctor asked as Kendall laid the girl on the bed. 

            “I don’t know.  Like I said, she was out when I found her.  I’m not sure how long she was there.  But I was searching for her for maybe 15 minutes.”

            The doctor nodded as she reattached the IV to her arm and reconnected her to the heart monitor. 

            “She should be fine in a few minutes.  If she doesn’t wake up on her own in an hour, try to wake her up.  If she doesn’t respond, call me or a nurse.”  The doctor smiled.  “And no more scaring any of my patients, young man!”

            “I won’t,” Kendall said, managing a small smile as the doctor left.

* * *

            The first thing that Anya was aware of was the aching of her limbs. 

            Maybe running like that hadn’t been such a good idea.

            The second thing that Anya was aware of was the fact that she wasn’t scared.  If she’d been back ‘home’ with her stepparents, she would have been terrified right now.  Terrified to wake up and see the damage that had been done to her, terrified to wake up and receive more punishment.  But Anya noticed something.

            The only pain that she felt right now came from the soreness of her muscles, along with all of her pre-existing injuries from the accident.  She hadn’t been hit, or punched, or kicked, or slammed against a wall. 

            Kendall hadn’t hurt her.

            Anya opened her eyes and immediately began to blink rapidly at the bright florescent lights that lit the hospital.  When was she going to get used to that?

            “Anya?” she heard a familiar voice say next to her.  Anya turned her head to look at him.

            “Anya, listen, I’m sorry that I snapped at you before.  I was just mad because you keep refusing to take the pain killers and I can’t stand to see you in so much pain…”  Kendall had to stop as tears threatened to fall.       

             Anya smiled.  Wayne was wrong.  There were people that cared about her.

            Anya reached out and took Kendall’s hand.  Her smile said it all.

            Kendall was forgiven.


	14. Chapter 14

            After a few more days in the hospital, Anya was finally allowed to come home.  The stitches had been taken out of her abdomen three days ago and her ribs had mostly healed.  The cast on her arm had been taken off yesterday. 

            As Anya rode in Kendall’s mother’s car on the way home, she reflected on how this was drastically different from every other time that she’d come home from the hospital.  There was no yelling.  There were no promises of beatings to come.  There was no fear.  There was just the soft sound of the radio playing classic rock hits from the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s.

            This was one of the first times that Anya wasn’t scared at all since…well, since before her mother had gotten sick.  And that was five years ago.

            Anya had forgotten what it felt like to feel perfectly safe.  She had forgotten what it was like to not have to be in a state of perpetual fear 24/7.  Five years was a long time.

            “We’re here,” Mrs. Knight said, parking the car in the Palm Woods parking lot.  Anya got out of the car.  When the two of them went to cross the street, Mrs. Knight unconsciously took her hand as if she were 5 years old.  Anya didn’t mind. 

            “Anya!” Carlos said from the top of his beloved swirly slide as she came through the door.

            “Anya’s home?” James asked, coming out of his room.

            “Hey, Anya,” Logan said, looking up from the couch where he was reading.

            “Anya!” Kendall said as he came out of the kitchen and walked over to her, his face breaking into a smile, “Welcome home.”

            Anya smiled.  Home.  That was something that she hadn’t had in a while.

            “We got you a little something,” Carlos said, appearing out of nowhere, holding out a small package.

            Anya just stared at him in disbelief.  She hadn’t gotten a gift of any kind since she was, maybe…five? 

            James and Logan came over to the group.

            “Go on.  Open it,” James said.

            Anya tentatively took the package from Carlos as if with one false move it would disappear forever.  She slowly unwrapped the packet, wondering what it could be. 

            Inside was a beautiful maroon bound book.  It was engraved with golden vines and leaves.  Also engraved on it was her name, in beautiful gold calligraphy.  She opened the book and saw that it was filled with blank pages.  Each page was decorated with a faint picture of a famous flower-themed painting—Monet, van Gogh, O’Keefe. 

            It was a journal.

            Tears filled Anya’s eyes.  “Thank you,” she whispered.

* * *

             The next day found Anya lying on her bed in the room she now shared with Katie writing in her new journal about her recent experiences.

            There was a knock at the door and Kendall came into the room.

            “Hey, Anya,” he said.

            Anya waved at him, hardly looking up from her new journal.

            Kendall chuckled.  “You ok?” he asked for the millionth time that day.

            Anya nodded, smiling to herself.  Nobody had ever shown that much interest in her well-being before.  It was nice.

            Kendall walked over to the bed.

            “Can I sit?” he asked. 

            Anya nodded, sitting up to give him room.

            Kendall sat down.  Anya closed her journal and set it aside, sensing that he wanted to tell her something.

            “The trial is in a week,” he said.

            Anya nodded.

            “You’re going to have to testify.”

            “But I already told the police everything.  Why do I have to do it again?” Anya asked.

            “That’s just how it works, I guess.  But at least you’ll only have to do it one more time.”  Anya’s stepmother had decided to plead guilty while her stepfather insisted that he was innocent.

            Anya nodded.  “Will you be there?” she asked anxiously.

            “Of course,” Kendall said, putting his arm around her comfortingly. 

* * *

 

            The week passed by very quickly.  Everybody that lived in apartment 2J headed to the courthouse at about nine thirty; the trial started at ten.  The prosecution lawyer was there waiting for them.

            “Ok, we went over all of this.  All you need to do is answer all the questions truthfully.  You got that?”

            Anya, Kendall, and Mrs. Knight nodded.  Logan, Carlos, James, and Katie didn’t have to testify.

            “Good.”  The lawyer smiled.  “Don’t worry.  There’s no chance that the jury’s going to acquit him.”

             They left the lawyer and went to sit down in the front on the prosecution side.

            “How long until it starts?” Carlos asked.

            “Five minutes,” Logan replied.

            Kendall could see that Anya was nervous.

            “Don’t worry.  It’ll be over before you know it,” Kendall assured her.

            Two police officers then came in with Anya’s stepfather and took them over to the defense side of the courtroom and sat him down next to their lawyer.

            Anya looked over at him and he glared at her.  She tensed up.

            “I don’t want to be here,” she whispered.

            “Everything will be ok.  They can’t hurt you,” Kendall told her.

            “All rise,” the bailiff announced.  Everybody in the room stood as the judge came in and sat in his chair.  He banged his gavel.

            “You may be seated,” he said and everybody sat down.

            The bailiff introduced the case and then the prosecuting lawyer began a long speech about what this all was about. 

            “I’m bored,” Carlos whispered.

            “Shhh,” James said.

            “But I’m bo-ored.”  If anybody could whisper and whine at the same time, it was Carlos.

            “Shhh!” Logan said.

            Carlos crossed his arms and began to pout.

            “Katie, honey, do you want to take Carlos out and find a snack?” Mrs. Knight whispered.

            “But mom—”

            “Please?”

            Katie sighed.  “Fine.”  She stood up and quietly left the courtroom with Carlos.

            “The prosecution calls Anastasia Petrović to the stand.”

            Anya looked at Kendall with fear in her eyes.

            “Go on,” he told her.

            “I don’t want to,” she whispered.

            “Anya, you have to.  Otherwise the jury won’t know what happened to you and they might not send your stepdad to jail.”

            “Come on.  Don’t be shy,” the judge said kindly.

            Anya stood up and slowly walked up to the stand, her legs feeling like jelly.  The clerk went over to her.

            “Raise your right hand,” he said. 

            Anya did as she was told.

            “Now, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”

            Anya glanced at Kendall, who nodded encouragingly at her.

            Anya nodded at the clerk.

            “Ok, Miss Petrović, please take a seat,” the judge said. 

            Anya went and sat in the witness box.

            “Let’s start with you telling us a little about yourself,” the prosecuting lawyer began, “How old are you?”

            “Fif-fifteen,” Anya replied.

            “Fifteen.  And do you go to school?”

            “N-no, sir.”

            “No?  Why not?” the lawyer asked.  He wasn’t surprised at all; they had already gone over this.

            “My mother pulled me out of school when she got sick.  She homeschooled me, for a while, at least.  Until she got too sick to.”

            “Mmhmm.  And where is your mother now?”

            “She-she’s dead,” Anya replied, looking down.

            “I’m sorry to hear that.  And your father?”

            “He’s dead, too.”

            The lawyer nodded.  “After your mother died, did you go back to school?”

            “No.”

            “Why not?”

            “Because my stepfather never sent me back.”

            “And why is that?”

            “Because then people would see the bruises.”  It came out as a whisper.

            The lawyer decided to change the subject.

            “How was your home life before your mother died?” he inquired.

            “It was...well, I’m not sure how to describe it.  It was sad because she was sick and I knew that she was going to die.  We all knew that.  But at the same time...it was happy because I still had her.”

            “Would you say that your life was good?”

            “Yes,” Anya said immediately.

            The lawyer nodded.  “Now, after your mother died, did your life change at all?”

            Anya nodded.  “Yes,” she said, “Before she died, she’d married a man named Wayne Hawkinson so that I wouldn’t be left alone.  She had never really trusted him, but it was better than nothing.  I never really trusted him, either, but while she was alive, he never did anything to me.  After she died, though, he-he gave me about a week to grieve and then...” Anya stopped, knowing that if she said another word she would start to cry.

            “It’s ok, Anastasia, take your time,” the lawyer said.

            Anya collected herself and then continued.  “He-he began to-to hit me.  He came home one night, drunk, and he slapped me.”

            “Is that man in this courtroom?”

            “Yes.”

            “Can you point him out, please?”

            Anya pointed to Wayne.

            “Let the record show that Miss Petrović pointed to the defendant,” the judge said.

            “Had he ever done anything like this before?” the lawyer asked.

            “No.  This was the first time,” Anya replied.

            “Did he ever do it again?”

            “Y-yes.”

            “How often?”

            “Every day.”

            “What kinds of things did he do to you besides hitting and slapping?” the lawyer asked.

            Anya bit her lip and didn’t say anything.

            “I know it’s hard, Miss Petrović, but you have to answer the question,” the judge said sympathetically.

            “He-he would hit me, and punch me, and twist my arms, and kick me, and slam me against the wall.  Stuff like that.  It got worse after he married a woman named Gertrude.  She-she would encourage everything so he hit me harder.”  Anya sniffled a little, trying to keep the tears in.

            “Did he ever do anything beside physically assault you?” the lawyer questioned.

            “He-he would lock me in the closet and forget about me for days.  I wouldn’t get any food or water and it was pitch black in there.  The first few times it was terrifying, but then I realized that if I was in there, he wasn’t hitting me.”  Anya couldn’t hold it in any longer and tears began to run down her cheeks.

            “How long would he keep you in there?”

            “A-about two or th-three days.  Sometimes it w-was longer, though.”

            “How long was the longest amount of time that he left you there?”

            “T-two weeks.”

            There was a collective gasp from everybody in the courtroom.  Kendall was mortified.  He’d had no idea that it had been that bad.

            “How long did all of this go on?” the lawyer asked.

            “About three y-years, until I ran away.”

            “Why did you run away?”

            Anya looked at the lawyer as if he were crazy.  “Because my stepparents were a-abusing me,” she answered.

            “No, I mean why did you choose to run away when you did?”

            “Oh.  Well, because I-I saw my chance to.  It was nighttime and my s-stepparents had passed out because they’d been-they’d been drinking.  Usually they locked the doors so that I couldn’t escape, but that night they hadn’t.  So I just left.”

            “Uh-huh.  Now, what happened after you ran away?”  
            “Somehow I found the city and I had no idea where to go and I was exhausted so I went to sleep in an alley.  The-the next thing I knew, there was this guy there.  I thought he was going to hurt me so I backed myself into a corner.  He told me that his name was Kendall and that he wasn’t going to hurt me.  Then he saw that I was hurt so he took me to his apartment and his mom cleaned me up.  I stayed there for a few days until my stepparents found me again.  We-we ran away so that they couldn’t take me away and hurt me.”

            “Excuse me, Miss Anastasia, but who exactly is ‘we’?”

            “Me, Kendall, and his friends, Carlos, James, and Logan.”

            “Thank you.  Now go on.”

            “We drove around a bit for a few days until Kendall called his mom and she told him that my stepparents had been arrested.  Then we went home.”  Anya started to tear up again.

            “When we got there, Kendall remembered that he f-forgot something in the c-car.  So he went to-to get it.  As he was w-walking back to us, Wayne’s car came s-speeding down the road.  Kendall didn’t know that it was Wayne’s car, so I p-pushed him out of the way.  I-I don’t remember much after that, not until I woke up in the hospital almost three weeks later.”  By this time, tears were streaming down her face.

            The prosecution lawyer nodded.  “The prosecution rests,” he said.

            The defense lawyer then asked Anya a few questions, none of them really proving much of anything.  After that, Anya was allowed to sit down.

            Kendall put his arm around her.  “You did great,” he said.

            “The prosecution calls Kendall Knight to the stand.”

            Kendall squeezed Anya in a one-armed hug and went up to the clerk.

            “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”

            “Yes.”  Kendall sat in the witness box.

            “Kendall.  Will you tell us about the day you found Anastasia?”

            Kendall nodded.  “I was coming home after shopping for a birthday present for my sister,” Kendall remembered with a grimace that they still needed to celebrate her birthday, “and I saw something in this alley that I passed.  I kind of did a double take and realized that it was a girl.  I went over to her and she-she was scared of me.  I could see that she was hurt so I took her home.”

            “How was she hurt?”

            “I saw she had all these cuts and bruises on her arm.  There was probably more, but I didn’t really see.  I brought her home and my friend Logan started to clean her up.  Then my mom came home and took over.”

            “Was there anything else that was unusual about her?”

            “Yes.”  Kendall paused for a second.  “She didn’t talk.  She didn’t say a single word for about a month and a half.”

            “What happened after you found her?”

            “Well, we kind of just took care of her for about a week until her stepparents came.  When they came I took Anya and my friends and we ran away so that she wouldn’t have to go back with them.”

            “Where did you go?”

            “We just drove around for a week or two.  We never went farther than two hours away from LA.  At night we camped out because we didn’t have enough money to stay at a good hotel.  We went back when my mom told us that Anya’s stepparents had been arrested.  By the time we got there, though, they had escaped from jail, but we didn’t know that.  My mom had no way of telling us because we’d left our cell phones at home so nobody could trace our location.  The parking lot of the Palm Woods, which is where we live, is across the street from the actual building.  We crossed the street and then I realized that I’d forgotten my iPod.  I went back and got it and then I began to cross the street again.  A small white car was coming towards me, but I misjudged the speed it was going, and besides, I thought it would stop if it had to.  Anya somehow knew that her stepfather was driving the car and was going to hit me, so she pushed me out of the way.”  Kendall had to stop as tears threatened to spill over onto his face.

            “And then?” the lawyer prompted gently.

            “And then the car hit her.  Anya’s stepfather hit her with his car and then he just left.”  Tears began to spill onto Kendall’s face as he remembered the scene.  “She almost died.  She was in a coma for almost three weeks.  When she woke up, that’s when she first started talking.  She just got out of the hospital a week ago.”

            “The prosecution rests.”  The lawyer went and sat down.

            The defense lawyer came up to the stand.

            “Kendall, when you found this girl, why didn’t you report her to the police?  She might have been a missing child with a loving family frantically looking for her.”

            “Because it never occurred to me.”  Kendall grinned, his cheeks still wet from the tears that had fallen on them just a few minutes ago.  “Besides, if she wanted to go home, she would have let us know.  Even though she didn’t talk, she could still communicate.”

            “The defense rests.”

            Kendall went and sat back down next to Anya. 

            “The prosecution calls Jennifer Knight to the stand.”


	15. Chapter 15

            “The prosecution calls Jennifer Knight to the stand.”

            Mrs. Knight stood up calmly, smoothing out her skirt.  She went up to the front of the courtroom.

            “Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”

            “Yes.”

            “Now, Mrs. Knight,” the prosecuting lawyer said when she had taken the stand, “Will you tell the court about the day you first met Anastasia?”

            “Yes.”  Mrs. Knight paused to collect her thoughts.  “I came home from the mall one day with my younger daughter and my son told me that he’d found a girl and that she was hurt.  I went into the bathroom, where my son’s friend was trying to clean her up.  I told him to leave and took over.”

            “Describe Anastasia’s appearance when you first saw her.”

            “Well, she was a mess.  She looked like she hadn’t had a bath or a shower in weeks and to me it looked like she had cut her hair herself.  She was very skinny, as if she wasn’t eating enough.  She was also hurt.  Looking back, I can see now that she had been abused, but at the time I just knew that she was hurt and I didn’t care how or why.”

            Anya slid down in her seat, her face turning red with embarrassment. 

            “Can you describe Anastasia’s injuries?”

            Mrs. Knight nodded.  “She had cuts and bruises all up and down her arms and legs, like she’d been hit or kicked or punched.  She had marks on her back that I now realize had to have come from a belt or whip or something like that.” 

            As his mother described Anya’s injuries, Kendall felt sick to his stomach.  He’d had no idea that it had been that bad; no wonder Anya was so afraid of her stepparents.

            “I could tell that some of the injuries were older.  She also had a lot of scars, especially on her back.”

            Tears gathered in Anya’s eyes as she remembered exactly what had caused each cut and bruise.

            “She also had a lot of welts all over her body.  There were cuts and scratches all over her stomach.  There was nothing on her face and only a few small scars on her hands.”

            Anya self-consciously balled her hands up in such a way so that no one could see them.

            The prosecuting lawyer asked Mrs. Knight a few more questions and then it was the defense lawyer’s turn.

            “Mrs. Knight.  Why didn’t you report Anastasia to the police when you found her in your apartment?  As I stated before, she could have been somebody’s missing child.”

            “At the time, I was more concerned about her well-being than whether somebody had lost her or not.  Besides, she was terrified.  She was clearly running away from something, or someone, and when she didn’t let us know that she was trying to get home, well, it never occurred to any of us.”

            “The defense rests.”

            Mrs. Knight stood up and went back to her seat.

            “The prosecution calls Dr. Stevenson to the stand.”

            Anya’s doctor was sworn in; he was an expert witness, just there to verify Anya’s injuries from the accident.

            “Dr. Stevenson, will you please describe Anastasia’s injuries from the car ‘accident’ to the court?” the prosecution lawyer asked.

            As the doctor began to talk about her injuries, Kendall heard a strangled whimper come from the girl sitting next to him.  He whipped his head toward her and saw that Anya was holding back tears.

            “Come on,” he whispered, standing up.  He led Anya out of the courtroom.

            As soon as they got outside, Anya burst into tears.  Kendall led her to a bench and held her as she cried.

            “It’s ok,” he said soothingly, “It’s all over now.  None of that stuff will ever happen to you again.  The jury will convict your stepdad and he’ll be in jail for a really long time, hopefully for the rest of his life, and you’ll never have to worry about him ever again.”

            Anya nodded but kept on crying.  Kendall understood; she just needed to let it all out.

            After a few minutes, Kendall’s phone buzzed.

            **Doctor’s done.  Wayne’s about to testify.**

            Kendall slid his phone back into his pocket and looked at Anya, who had mostly quieted down.

            “Hey,” he said gently, “Your stepdad’s about to go up.  Do you want to hear what he has to say about all of this?”

            Anya wiped her tears away and nodded.   She followed Kendall back into the courtroom.

            “She’s a troubled girl,” Wayne was saying as they walked in, “Ever since her mother died, she roamed the neighborhood all day and always came home all bruised and battered. Somehow she got it into her head that _I_ was the one hurting her, so I had to lock her in the house during the day time.  One day, about two months ago, I woke up to find Stacy gone.  I told my wife and together we searched the neighborhood for her.  When we couldn’t find her, we called the police.  The police found her about a week later, in an apartment with some boy band that called themselves ‘Big Time Rush.’” 

            “He’s wrong,” Anya whispered, “That’s not what happened.”  She turned to Kendall and was startled by the flash in his eyes.  “Kendall?”

            “I know,” he said, fighting to control his anger. 

            “Stacy then ran away with the boys after I went to their apartment with my wife and a police officer.  A week or two after that, my wife and I were arrested.  We escaped, which I now realize was a mistake, but we were caught later by a police officer that claimed that I had hit Stacy with my car.”

            “The defense rests.”

            The prosecuting lawyer stood up.  “Mr. Hawkinson, did you ever take Anastasia to the hospital because of her injuries?”

            Wayne nodded.  “Yes, multiple times.”

            “You said before that Anastasia is ‘troubled’ and that she ‘got it into her head’ that you were the one hurting her.  Did you ever take her to a mental health specialist to have her evaluated?”

            “No.”

            “Why not?”

            “I wanted to help her, I really did, but we just didn’t have the money.”

            “You didn’t have the money,” the prosecuting lawyer repeated, “But, according to you, you are a construction worker that ‘makes good money.’  According to this document that is in Exhibit D, showing your income for last year, you made more than enough money to take your step daughter to be evaluated and even treated.  So I ask again: why didn’t you?”

            “What with all our bills and everything, we didn’t have enough left over.”

            “What bills?” the prosecution lawyer asked angrily, “Other documents in this folder show that  you hardly paid your electric bills, causing your house to be cut off from power every few months.  Same with your water bills.  Where did all of your money go?”

            Wayne gave the lawyer a hard look.  “I’m not answering that question.”

            The lawyer shrugged.  “Suit yourself,” he said, “The prosecution rests.”

            The judge looked towards the defense lawyer.

            “No more witnesses,” he said.

            “There will be a five minute recess as both sides prepare their closing statements.”  The judge banged his gavel a few times to punctuate his words.

            The five minutes passed by quickly and each lawyer gave their closing statements, the prosecuting lawyer going over everything everybody had said and accentuating the fact that Wayne had refused to answer that last question.  Before they knew it the jury was out of sight, debating whether or not Wayne was guilty.

            “What do you think’s gonna happen?” Carlos asked nervously.

            “Duh.  Anya’s stepdad will be found guilty and he’ll go behind bars for the rest of his life,” James said.

            “Are you sure?” Carlos asked, “What if they believe Anya’s stepdad instead of Kendall and the doctor and Mrs. Knight and Anya?”

            “They’d better not,” Kendall muttered, staring at the door the jury had gone through as if he could telepathically force them to find Wayne guilty.

            “There’s a really good chance that Anya’s stepfather will be found guilty,” Logan said, “His testimony wasn’t very believable and the evidence against him is pretty conclusive.  I’d be surprised if they were to acquit him.”

            Carlos looked at Logan with a confused look on his face.

            Logan sighed.  “Anya’s stepdad is obviously guilty and the jury would be stupid to acquit him,” he translated for his slower friend.

            It seemed like the jury was taking forever to decide whether Wayne was guilty or not.

            Anya looked at the ceiling, swinging her legs back and forth like a little kid, thinking about the trial. 

            Why had she even bothered coming to this stupid trial anyway?  The jury probably didn’t believe a word she said.  They all probably thought that she was a stupid, mentally messed-up girl who had run away from home and caused a bunch of trouble. 

            That’s how it always was.  Why would this time be different?

            And after he was acquitted…then what?  What would happen to her?  Would she have to live the rest of her life running from Wayne, constantly plagued with the fear that if he caught up to her he would kill her?  Maybe she should just kill herself first to save everybody the trouble…

            The judge suddenly banged his gavel a few times as the jury filed back into jury box.

            “Has the jury reached a verdict?” he asked.

            “Yes, your Honor,” said one of the jury members, standing up.

            “Will the defendant please rise?” the judge asked.  Wayne stood.

            “We, the members of the jury, find Wayne Hawkinson…”

            It seemed to take forever for him to get the words out.

            “Guilty of all charges.”

 


	16. Chapter 16

            After the trial, Kendall became very overprotective of Anya.  He was worried that she would have a panic attack or she would have nightmares or something would scare her.

            But Anya didn’t seem to be afraid of anything.

            She wasn’t scared of the dogs at Palm Woods Park, she wasn’t scared of the dark, she didn’t get claustrophobic in the elevator.  Kendall began to feel more comfortable leaving her more often. 

            He and the guys resumed recording with Gustavo.  They sang new songs, learned new dances, got into trouble every other minute.

            In short, life was returning back to normal. 

            One day, about a month after the trial, Kendall was driving to the rink.  He hadn’t been in what felt like forever and he was afraid that he was going to lose his game.

            Kendall glanced at the sky; Logan had been right.  It did look like it was going to storm.  Hopefully Kendall could make it to the rink before it started.

            But luck wasn’t on his side that day.  The clouds ripped open with a streak of lightning and it began to pour.

            Kendall turned on the windshield wipers and slowed down.  He could still make it to the rink; besides, he was already three quarters of the way there.

            After a few minutes and a lot of lightning strikes, Kendall’s phone began to vibrate in the empty seat next to him.

            Kendall glanced over at the caller ID.  Well, Logan would just have to wait.  Kendall refused to use his cell phone while driving.

            After a few minutes, the phone stopped vibrating.  The screen flashed: one missed call.  Almost immediately, the phone started to buzz again.

            After the phone went off a third time, Kendall sighed and pulled over to the side of the road to answer it.

            “What?” he said, clearly showing his annoyance at being bothered.

            “Kendall, you have to get back here now,” Logan said, interference from the storm making him hard to hear, “Anya’s freaking out.”

            “What?!” Kendall said again, this time suddenly alert.

            “I think she’s having another panic attack.  Probably because of this storm.  She keeps running away from us like a scared little animal.”

            “Ok.  I’m on my way.”

            Kendall closed his phone with a snap and tossed it onto the seat next to him.  He put the car back in gear and sped towards the Palm Woods, running up to the apartment as soon as he got there.

            Anya was hiding under the dinner table, shaking like a leaf.  James was trying to coax her out.  Logan was standing off to the side, looking through one of his many medical dictionaries, Katie reading it over his shoulder.  Carlos was on the computer.  Mrs. Knight was nowhere in sight.

            “Move,” Kendall commanded James, who quickly complied.  Kendall squatted next to the table.

            “Hey, Anya,” he said gently.

            Anya backed away as if he had just said something like ‘I’m going to eat you.’

            Kendall didn’t dare go any closer to her.

            “What are you doing under there?” he asked. 

            Anya backed away further. 

            Kendall moved back a few feet and sat down on the floor.

            “The storm isn’t going to hurt you,” Kendall said softly.

            Suddenly, Anya stood up and bolted towards the door.  She was out of the apartment before anybody could react.

            Kendall, James, Carlos, Logan and Katie ran to the door, but by the time they got there, Anya was nowhere in sight.  Kendall immediately started giving orders.

            “James, lobby.  Carlos, pool.  Logan, park.  Katie, stay here in case she comes back.  I’ll look upstairs.  Go!”

            Everybody turned to go where they were told to without a single protest.  Kendall ran up the stairs to the third floor, poking his head out just long enough to look down the hall.

            No sign of Anya.

            Kendall repeated this on floors four, five and six, but still no Anya.  Kendall kept going up and soon found himself on the roof.

            As soon as he pushed the door open, Kendall stopped in his tracks.  There, standing on the raised ledge that wrapped around the roof to prevent people from falling off the building, was Anya.  She was holding onto a pole, her back turned to him.

            “Anya?” Kendall called softly, not wanting to startle her.

            “Kendall?” Anya said, her voice laced with fear, “What am I doing up here?”

            “Just turn around and I’ll help you down,” Kendall said, trying to sound more confident than he felt, “Everything’s going to be ok.”

            “I-I can’t!” Anya said, clutching the pole as if for dear life.

            “Come on, Anya, you can do it,” Kendall said, “You have to.”

            Anya shook her head.

            “I’m right here.  I won’t let anything happen to you.”

            Anya hesitated and tried to turn around. 

            “Come on.  You can do it,” Kendall said encouragingly.

            Finally, after what seemed like forever, Anya was facing him.  Her eyes were squeezed shut.

            Kendall moved closer to the ledge, which was taller than he’d thought it was.

            “Ok, now just come down...I’m right here...”

            Anya slowly lowered one foot from the ledge, trying to find something to stand on.

            “That’s it...come on...almost there...” Kendall said.

            At long last, Anya’s foot was on the ground.  The other one quickly followed and Anya rushed into Kendall’s awaiting arms, dissolving into tears.

            “Everything’s ok now,” Kendall said, comfortingly rubbing her back.  To his surprise, Kendall found that he was crying, too. 

            The two teenagers held each other, each offering the other comfort.  Both realized that Anya could have really gotten hurt.  Or worse.

            Kendall had no idea what he would have done if Anya had fallen off the building.  He could no longer imagine a life without her.  He just couldn’t live without her.

            Kendall suddenly came to a startling realization.

            He loved Anya.


	17. Chapter 17

            After a few minutes, Kendall and Anya let go of each other.

            “Are you ok?” Kendall asked.

             “I think so,” Anya nodded, wiping her tears away.

            Kendall quickly texted his friends that Anya had been found and they made their way back to the apartment.

            When they got there, everyone was sitting at the table waiting for them.

            “She ok?” James asked.

            “Yeah,” Kendall said, “I don’t think she’s panic attacking anymore.”

            “Where was she?” Katie asked.

            “The roof,” Kendall said, and told them what had basically happened, leaving out a few, personal details.

            After Kendall finished, they all decided that they should go to bed.  It had been a long day for everybody. 

            “Are you ok, Kendall?” Logan asked as they were changing into their PJs in their room.

            “Yeah.  I’m fine.  Why?” Kendall asked.

            “I don’t know, you just seem a bit...shaken.”

            “Probably just because I found Anya on the roof in the position to jump less than an hour ago,” Kendall said.

            “Good point,” Logan said, “Well, good night.”

            “G’night,” Kendall said and both boys got into bed, Logan turning off the light.

            Kendall knew that he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep anyway, so he didn’t bother trying.  Instead he laid there in the dark, thinking about his earlier discovery.

            He loved Anya.

            There was no escaping it.  Kendall would love her until the day that he died.  There was only one problem, though.

            What if Anya didn’t love him back?

* * *

 

            The next day, everything was relatively quiet and normal.  Logan and Carlos were bickering in the corner about something or another.  Katie was video chatting with her stock broker.  Anya was in her room writing in her journal.  Mrs. Knight was out at the gym.  James was watching What Not to Wear.

            And Kendall was sitting in his room, freaking out.

            He’d thought about it all night, what ifs popping into his head.  A few were good, like ‘what if Anya likes me back?’ but most were bad, like ‘what if Anya doesn’t love me back and gets scared and confused so she runs away?’

            Kendall decided to consult the Love Guru of Apartment 2J.

            Kendall went over to James, trying to look as calm and normal as possible.

            “Can I talk to you for a moment?” he asked.

            James looked up at Kendall.  “Sure,” he said.

            Kendall led James to his room and shut the door behind them.

            “What’s up?” James asked.

            Kendall turned to face him, a wild look in his eyes.

            “I think I’m in love with Anya!” Kendall blurted out.

            James looked at his friend for a moment.

            “Well, duh,” James finally said.

            “What?” Kendall asked, confused.

            “Dude, it’s so obvious.  You’ve been overprotective of her from the start.  You should have seen yourself when she had that first panic attack; I was afraid that you were going to have one, too.  And don’t even get me started about the accident.”

            Kendall stared at James, taking it all in.  “Do you think Anya noticed?” he asked, embarrassed.

            “No,” James said frankly, “She definitely hasn’t.”

            “Well, what should I do?” Kendall asked.

            “Go ask her out.”

            “I can’t do that!” Kendall exclaimed, appalled at the idea.

            “Why not?” James asked.

            “What if she doesn’t like me back?”

            “Then you go make her like you back.”

            “I can’t do that, either,” Kendall said, “Anya doesn’t work that way.”

            James looked at Kendall, confused.  “What do you mean?” he asked.

            “If I were to just go ask her out or tell her that I like her and she didn’t like me back, she’d freak out.  You know Anya.  She might run away or something.  And if I were to try to get her to like me, well...that would be awkward for her,” Kendall told him, “Do you have a plan C?”

            “Nope.  Sorry, dude.  I’ve got nothing.  I’ll try to think of something for you,” James thought for a moment and then shook his head.  “You’re overreacting, though.”

            “Thanks,” Kendall said, ignoring the latter statement, clearly disappointed but not ungrateful.

            James gave his friend a sympathetic look before leaving the room.

            Kendall sat down on his bed and thought.

            Well, at least he had Anya, right?  Even though she was just a friend.  That was better than nothing.

* * *

            “Hey, Logan,” Anya said, “Can-can I borrow your iPod?”

            “Sure, let me go get it,” Logan replied, going to his room to get it.  For almost two weeks now, Anya had been borrowing iPods in order to listen to music.  It seemed that she had settled on Logan’s as the one she liked best.

            “Thank you,” Anya said when Logan returned with his mp3 player and she disappeared into her room.

            She got on her bed and lay down on her stomach with her journal, ready to write.  Anya picked up the iPod and chose a song.  The music filled the air, as Anya didn’t like to use the ear buds.  Satisfied that she was all set up, Anya began to write.

* * *

            Kendall went into his room and found Logan on the computer, doing something on iTunes.

            “Hey, Logan,” he said, greeting his friend.

            “Hey, Kendall.”  Logan hardly looked up from the computer screen.

            “What are you looking at?” Kendall asked.

            “My iTunes library,’ Logan replied, “I never knew that one person could listen to the Beatles so much.”

            “Who?  You?”

            “No.  Anya.”  Logan scrolled down, looking at the numbers that told him how many times each song had been listened to.  “Just look at this—she’s listened to each song at least five times, some more than that. “

            “Really?”  Kendall went and looked over Logan’s shoulder at the computer screen.

            “Yeah.  I don’t even see how that’s possible.  She never has my iPod for more than two hours at a time.”

            “Huh.  That’s interesting,” Kendall said.  He stood up.  “I’m going to head down to the pool.  You want to come?”

            “Nah, I’ve got some things to do,” Logan replied, “Take Carlos.  If he goes down that swirly slide one more time I think I’ll scream.”

            Kendall chuckled to himself and went to get his hyper best friend.

* * *

            Later that day, Anya went to find James, who was in his room, adding another poster of Nicole Scherzinger to his wall.

            “James?” Anya said timidly, coming into the room.

            “Hey, Anya,” James said as he searched for the best spot to put the poster.

            “C-can I ask you something?” Anya asked.

            “Sure.”

            “What does being in love feel like?”

            James took his eyes off the wall and looked at Anya. 

            “Well,” he said, thinking, “It-it’s indescribable.  It’s the best feeling in the world.”

            “Is that it?” Anya asked.

            “Well, no,” James thought for a moment and then continued, “You can’t stop thinking about the person you’re in love with, and you’re always super happy when you’re with them. Something like that, at least.”

            Anya bit her lip and wrung her hands.

            “Why do you ask?  Do you have a crush on someone?” James asked teasingly.

            “I don’t know—maybe,” Anya said.

            James saw her distress and immediately turned serious.

            “Who?” he asked, abandoning the poster.

            Anya bit her lip again as if she was afraid to say it.  “Kendall,” she finally said quietly, hanging her head in shame.

            James felt an excitement rising in his chest for his friend.

            “Kendall?” he repeated.

            “I know, it’s dumb,” Anya said, her eyes still on the floor.

            “No, no, it’s not dumb.  No love is ever dumb,” James said quickly.

            Anya looked at James.  “Really?” she asked hopefully.

            “Really,” James replied.

            The smile that had been making its way onto Anya’s face vanished almost as soon as it appeared.

            “But what if Kendall doesn’t love me back?” she asked.

            James shrugged.  “That’s a chance you might have to take,” he said, “You should go tell him.

            Anya looked appalled at the thought.  “No,” she said, “It’s not worth it.  If he doesn’t love me back it could ruin our friendship and then I’ll have nothing.”  She stood up.  “Thanks, James.”

            “You’re welcome, I guess,” James said with a smile that hid his exasperation.

            Those two were meant for each other.  There was no doubt about it.  But both of them were just too scared to admit it to each other. 

            Well, maybe James would just have to help.


	18. Chapter 18

            The next day found Kendall waiting for Anya outside her room,

            “Do you need any help?” he called.

            “No,” Anya said back, her voice muffled by the closed door.

            “You don’t have to go swimming if you don’t want to,” Kendall said.

            “But I do want to,” Anya said.  She paused.  “I think I’m ready,” she said.

            “Then come on out.  You can’t go swimming in there,” Kendall said.

            The door opened to reveal Anya wearing a pretty sun dress.

            “Ready?” Kendall asked with a smile.

            “Ready,” Anya said with that sweet little smile of hers.

            “Let’s go, then.”  Kendall said.

            The two left and went down to the pool.  Anya kept wringing her hands together nervously.

            “What’s wrong?” Kendall asked.

            “I haven’t gone swimming since I was ten,” she admitted.

            “Don’t worry about it,” Kendall told her, “Swimming is like riding a bike—you never forget.”

            “I haven’t ridden a bike since I was seven,” Anya said quietly.

            “That can be next on the list of things to do then.  But first,” Kendall opened the door and the two of them stepped outside, “the world-famous Palm Woods pool.”

            Kendall led Anya over to a few lounge chairs and they put their stuff down. 

            “Anya, you have to take off the dress if you want to go swimming,” Kendall said.

            “I-I’m not sure that I want to go swimming anymore,” Anya said anxiously.

            “Why not?”

            “I-I just don’t,” Anya said, looking down at the ground.

            Kendall thought he could guess why.  “Why don’t you just put your feet in?” he suggested.

            “O-ok,” Anya said.  The two went over to the edge of the pool and Kendall sat, letting his toes dip in the water.

            “Come on,” he said, and Anya carefully sat down.

            “Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Kendall asked.

            Anya shook her head.

            “Hey, Kendall, hey, Anya,” they heard and turned around.

            “Hey, Camille,” Kendall said.  Anya waved.  Camille sat in a lounge chair and began to look at a script.

            “Hey, guys.”

            “Hey, Logan,” Kendall said, turning around to look up at his friend.

            “Mind if I join you?” he asked.

            “Fine with me,” Kendall said, and Anya nodded in agreement.

            Logan sat down next to Kendall and the three of them began to talk about nothing in particular.

            “Logan, how can you still have a crush on Phoebe Nachee?” Kendall said.

            “She’s hot _and_ smart.  How could I not have a crush on her?” Logan said.

            “She hates men and led a group of girls in an angry mob to run you out of that school,” Kendall told him.

            “That doesn’t mean she isn’t hot!  And I could change her mind about that hating men thing,” Logan retorted.

            Kendall burst out laughing.  “You?” he gasped out, “You change her mind?  You have better luck getting a turtle to fall in love with a starfish!”

            Logan scowled and pushed him into the pool.

            Kendall’s head popped out of the water.  He shook the water out of his hair and then grabbed Logan by the ankle.

            “No, Kendall, don’t—” Logan began, but was cut off when Kendall pulled him into the pool.

            Logan quickly emerged, spitting out water.

            “Thanks a lot, Kendall,” he said, hoisting himself out of the pool.

            “No problem, dude,” Kendall replied.

            “I’m going to go dry off,” Logan grumbled, walking away, creating a trail of water in his wake.

            Kendall began to float on his back, his hands behind his head.

            “Come on in; the water’s fine,” he said to Anya.

            Anya looked a little uncertain.

            “I’ll be here the entire time.  I won’t let anything happen to you.”

            “Ok,” Anya said, standing up.  She went over to the lounge chair where she had put her things and slipped off the sundress, revealing a one-piece bathing suit underneath.

            Kendall was immediately struck by the scars all over her legs and back.  They looked like they were healing but...there were so many.  Anger again rose in Kendall’s chest as it always did when he thought about her stepparents, but he then realized that despite the scars, Anya was still gorgeous.  If someone saw her for the first time right now, they probably wouldn’t even notice the scars, at least not at first; they would notice how beautiful she was.

            Anya slowly walked into the pool.

            “That’s it,” Kendall said, ready to help her just in case she needed it.

            Before Anya knew it, she was in the water.  She smiled shyly and then began to swim.

            Anya’s smile grew and then she disappeared underneath the water.  Kendall watched anxiously, unsure if she’d done that on purpose or not.  In a few seconds, Anya surfaced, a huge smile on her face.

            “And you were scared to go swimming,” Kendall teased, “Look at you; you’re practically a fish!”

            Anya stuck her tongue out and splashed at Kendall.

            “Hey!” Kendall said, caught off guard.  He splashed her back and soon they were engaged in a full out splash fight.

            “Mind if I join you guys?” they heard Camille ask after a few minutes.

            “Not at all,” Kendall said.

            Camille jumped in to the water and swam over to them.  The three swam around together for a while, talking, splashing, and having fun.

            “I think I’m going to get out now,” Kendall finally said, “My fingers are all shriveled up.  You can stay in if you want,” he added, seeing Anya’s disappointed look.

            Kendall got out of the pool and dried off.  He went and sat in his lounge chair.

            “Hey, dude,” Kendall heard.  He looked towards the source of the voice.

            “Hey, James,” he said, squinting at the sun, “What’s up?”

            James shrugged.  “Nothing much,” he said, sitting down in the chair next to him, “Just going to catch up on my rays.”  He laid back and took out a mirror, holding under his chin in order to direct sunlight to his face.  He nodded towards the pool.  “Anya seems to be enjoying herself.”

            “Yeah,” Kendall said, “It took a while to get her into the pool but now that she’s in she doesn’t want to get out.”

            The two were silent for a few minutes.

            “You’re an idiot,” James suddenly said.

            “What?” Kendall asked.

            “I said ‘You’re an idiot,’” James repeated.

            “That’s not what I meant,” Kendall said, “Why do you say that I’m an idiot?”

            “One word: Anya.”

            “What about Anya?”

            “What do you think about Anya?”

            “James, I already explained why I can’t—”

            “And your reasons are stupid.”

            “Well, stupid as they might be, they’re true.”

            “But what if Anya likes you back?”

            “Then she can tell me herself.”

            “What if she’s scared to?” James said.  When Kendall didn’t respond, James continued.  “If you’re afraid to tell her then why would she be brave enough to?”

            “I’m not afraid.”

            “I really think that you should tell her, Kendall.”

             “So I should just go up to her and go ‘Hey, Anya, I’m in love with you.  Want to make out?’”

            James rolled his eyes.  “No.  You _never_ do that.  You have to do something more...romantic.”

            “Like what?”

            “I’m not sure...” James thought for a moment and then his face lit up with an idea.  “Sing!  You should sing to her!”

            “Sing to her?” Kendall asked doubtfully.

            “Yeah!  It’s perfect!  I mean, seriously, how many people can actually sing?  You’ve got a gift, my friend, and you should use it.  Any girl would love it if...”

            James’ voice faded away as an idea came into Kendall’s head.  It just might work.

            “Fine.  I’ll do it,” Kendall said, cutting James off.

            James smiled.  “Good.  And if you need any help, you know where to find me.” 


	19. Chapter 19

            "Hey, Kendall," Logan said the next day, walking into the room they shared, "What are you doing on my computer?"

            "Do you know any good love songs?" Kendall asked, ignoring Logan's question.

            "Sure," Logan said, confused, "Nothing Even Matters is pretty good. So are Boyfriend and Any Kind of Guy. Why?"

            "Not one of ours," Kendall said, "Something...something that Anya would like."

            "Oh," Logan said, finally understanding, "How about something by the Beatles?

            "The Beatles?" Kendall asked, "Why them?"

            "Anya listens to them all the time. Plus they've got some pretty great love songs. Here, I'll show you." Logan took the mouse from Kendall and opened iTunes. He clicked on a song.

_Love, love me do_

_You know I love you_

_I'll always be true_

_So please_

_Love me do_

            Kendall shook his head. "Not that one."

            "How about this?" Logan clicked on another song.

_Ooh, I need your love babe_

_Guess you know it's true_

_Hope you need my love, babe_

_Just like I need you_

_Hold me_

_Love me_

_Hold me_

_Love me_

_I ain't got nothing but live, babe_

_Eight days a week_

            Kendall shook his head again. "Definitely not that one," he said.

_I should have known better with a girl like you_

_That I would love everything that you do_

_And I do_

_Hey hey hey_

_And I do_

_Whoa oh I never realized what a kiss could be_

_This could only happen to me_

_Can't you see, can't you see_

_That when I tell you that I love you_

_Oh_

_You're gonna say you love me too_

            "Maybe," Kendall said uncertainly, "Are there any others?"

            "Um..." Logan scrolled down, "Oh, here, listen to this one."

            Kendall listened thoughtfully.

            "I like it," he said, "It's perfect."

            "Good," Logan said, "Now you just have to learn it. Here—give me your iPod. I'll put it on for you."

            "Thanks," Kendall said. As soon as he was done, Kendall put in his ear buds and put the song on loop. The sooner he had it learned the better.

* * *

            "The goal here is for your cards to add up to 21, or at least get as close as possible without going over," Katie said a few days later, shuffling a deck of cards, "Kings, queens, and jacks are each worth 10. Aces are worth either 11 or 1, depending on what you need. All the other cards are just worth whatever they say."

            Anya nodded. Katie had offered to teach her blackjack and, as Anya had nothing better to do, she'd agreed.

            Katie dealt the cards and began to explain the game.

            "Now, if you want to take another card, you say 'hit.' If you don't want any more cards, say 'stand.' Got it?"

            Anya nodded uncertainly. "I think so," she said.

            "You'll see what I mean when we start playing. Here, my cards add up to—"

            "Hey, Anya," James interrupted, poking his head in the room, "Can I show you something?"

            "We're in the middle of a game here," Katie said, a bit annoyed.

            "Yeah, I know, but this is important."

            "Can't it wait?"

            "No, it can't," James said, giving Katie a meaningful look.

            "Oh," Katie said in understanding, "Ok. We'll finish some other time."

            Anya stood up and followed James as he led her out of the apartment and down the hall.

            "What did you want to show me?" she asked.

            "You'll see."

            Anya could see that James wasn't going to tell her anything else, so she let her thoughts wander.

            Kendall had been acting really strange lately. For the past few days he'd been listening to his iPod non-stop. On top of that, he always seemed nervous around her. Had she done something wrong?

            James led Anya outside to Palm Woods Park. Anya looked up, taking in the sunset. It was one of the prettiest that she'd ever seen, with pinks, and yellows, and oranges, with the clouds arranged just so in the perfect design...

            Anya tore her eyes away from the sky and looked ahead, startled to see Kendall kneeling about six feet in front of her with his guitar. He began to play and Anya immediately recognized the song.

_I give her all my love_

_That's all I do_

_And if you saw my love_

_You'd love her too_

_I love her_

_She gives me everything_

_And tenderly_

_The kiss my lover brings_

_She brings to me_

_And I love her_

_A love like ours_

_Could never die_

_As long as I_

_Have you near me_

_Bright are the stars that shine_

_Dark is the sky_

_I know this love of mine_

_Will never die_

_And I love her_

_Bright are the stars that shine_

_Dark is the sky_

_I know this love of mine_

_Will never die_

_And I love her_

            As the last few chords died away, Anya stood there in shock. She could feel the blood draining from her face.

            Kendall looked at her expectantly, trying to gauge her reaction. It didn't look good. Just what he'd been afraid of. Great. How could he have been so stupid? There was no way that Anya could ever have liked him like that. Kendall really hoped that he hadn't just destroyed his friendship with Anya.

            "I'm sorry. I-I shouldn't have done that. Let's just pretend that never happened, ok?" Kendall said, his cheeks burning.

            Anya stumbled backwards, tripping over her feet in her need to get away.

            "Anya, wait!" Kendall called.

            Anya ran. She ran through the park, around the pool, and somehow ended up in the park again. She quickly hid in some bushes, tears streaming down her cheeks. She hugged her knees to her chest and silently cried into them.

            Kendall...liked her? Anya never thought that that was even possible. She figured that she should be the happiest girl in the world right now, but there was no way around it—she was scared.

            "Anya! Anya, I'm sorry! Can we please just pretend that never happened?" Anya heard Kendall's pleading voice call out.

            "Anya, please! Where are you, I need to talk to you!"

            A sob escaped from Anya's throat.

            "Anya?" Kendall called, a bit softer this time. He went over to the bushes and peeked in.

            "Anya?"

            No reaction.

            "I'm sorry," Kendall said, "Can-can we just pretend that today never happened?"

            Anya shook her head.

            "No?" Kendall asked, confused.

            Anya shook her head again.

            "Why not?" Kendall asked.

            Anya picked her head up and looked at him, her face stained with tears.

            "I-I think I might like you, too," she whispered.

            Kendall's heart soared, but at the same time, he was confused.

            "Then why..." he began.

            "I'm scared," Anya admitted, casting her eyes down in shame.

            "Why are you scared?" Kendall asked gently.

            "What-what if it doesn't work? What if something goes wrong and we can't even be friends anymore?" Fresh tears began to leak onto her face as she finally said the words out loud.

            Kendall thought for a moment.

            "To tell you the truth, I don't think that will happen. But here—how about we go on a few dates to start off with? It'll be sort of a test run. And at any time, if you feel uncomfortable or would rather just be friends, just say so and we'll pretend none of this ever happened."

            Relief spread over Anya's face, but it was soon replaced with worry. "But what if you still want to be together and I don't?" she asked.

            "That doesn't matter," Kendall said and stood, Anya following suit. The two teenagers hugged.

            "Thank you," Anya whispered.


	20. Chapter 20

            A few days later, Kendall found Anya in her room, reading a book.

            "Hey," he said.

            "Hi," she replied, almost nervously. Neither of them had spoken about what had happened a few nights ago and Anya was almost afraid that it had just been a dream.

            "Are you doing anything today?" Kendall asked.

            "Just reading," Anya replied, "And Katie said that she might try to teach me that game again...blackjack, I think it was called?"

            Kendall chuckled. "Just be careful with her, ok? When it comes to card games, Katie's pretty vicious."

            Anya laughed. "Why do you ask?" she asked curiously.

            "I was thinking we could hang out together, if you want," Kendall answered.

            "Oh," she said, and then her eyes widened, "Oh," she repeated realizing what he meant, "Sure. I'd love to hang out." She said the last two words a bit uncertainly; Anya wasn't entirely used to the slang that teenagers used.

            "Great," Kendall said, a smile spreading across his face, "We'll go in about ten minutes, ok?"

            "Go? Where are we going?" Anya asked.

            "It's a surprise," Kendall said slyly, leaving the room.

            Wondering what it could be, Anya put her book away and began to get ready. After she brushed her hair, there was a knock at her door.

            "Ready to go?" Kendall asked, pushing the door open.

            Anya nodded and followed Kendall out of the Palm Woods, heading towards the bus stop.

            Knowing that she wasn't going to know where they were going until they got there, Anya didn't bother asking any questions. As a result, the bus ride was mostly silent, except for all the talking from the other passengers.

            After about 15 minutes, they finally got off the bus.

            Anya looked around, trying to figure out where they were, when she saw the sign.

            "The zoo?" she asked.

            "Yep," Kendall said, his smile quickly vanishing when he saw the look on her face.

            "Why? What's wrong? Don't you like the zoo?" he asked anxiously.

            "I-I don't know. I've never been to the zoo before." Anya turned to him, a smile making its way onto her face, "I've always wanted to go, though."

            "Good," Kendall said in relief.

* * *

            Anya seemed to be fascinated by all the animals. She was amazed by the giraffes, amused by the elephants, slightly frightened of the lions (until Kendall convinced her that they couldn't hurt her), charmed by the pandas, and enraptured by the prairie dogs. She kept running to and from each exhibit, hardly able to contain her excitement at finally seeing the animals that she'd read so much about.

            "Come on," Kendall said, glancing at the map, "I'll think you'll like this." Kendall led her to a different part of the zoo.

            Anya's eyes widened as she read the sign. She looked at Kendall questioningly, as if she wasn't sure if she was reading it correctly.

            Kendall just smiled and took her by the hand. He brought her inside the fence surrounding some animals that would normally be found on a farm.

            "I-I can pet them?" Anya asked, afraid that it was too good to be true.

            "That's what a petting zoo is for," Kendall told her.

            Anya walked over to a sheep and hesitantly put her hand out. After an encouraging nod from Kendall, she touched the wooly animal. A smile spread over her face as she grew more comfortable, stroking the sheep as it stood there. Soon she moved onto the goats, the donkeys, and the pigs, growing more delighted with each animal.

            "Here," Kendall said, pulling her away from the pony, "I think you'll really like these."

            Anya followed him, unsure of what animal she had missed. A huge smile spread over her face as she saw what Kendall had in store for her.

            Anya gently picked up one of the bunnies and began to stroke its ears and back, cooing at it as she did so. After a few minutes, she put it down and began to pet another one. She kept cycling through the bunnies, making sure to give each one an equal amount of attention.

            Soon enough, it began to get dark out. Kendall looked at his watch; Anya had been petting the bunnies for almost three hours.

            "Anya," Kendall said, hating to have to take her away from something that made her so happy, "We have to go soon. The bus comes in 15 minutes."

            Anya's smile dimmed a little, but instead of protesting, she stood up.

            "Bye," she said, waving at the animals, "I'll come and visit you again soon."

            One of the rabbits came over to her foot and nudged against it a little, as if it wanted to be petted again.

            "I have to go now," she said, bending down to its level to pet it one last time, "But I'll be back soon. I promise."

            Anya stood up and followed Kendall out of the zoo.

            "Did you have fun?" Kendall asked when they were on the bus on their way home.

            Anya nodded, her face still shining with joy.

            Today had definitely been a success.


	21. Chapter 21

            "Can you do me a favor?" Anya asked shyly one day about a week after her trip to the zoo.

            "Anything," Kendall replied, turning off the TV so he could give her his full attention.

            "Can you teach me how to ice skate?"

            A smile spread across Kendall's face. "Of course," he replied, "I can teach you later, after we're done recording with Gustavo."

* * *

            So that afternoon, Kendall and Anya headed over to the rink, both clad in jackets, sweaters, hats, and gloves to keep warm. Kendall brought his own ice skates but they had to rent a pair for Anya. After he helped her put them on, they went to the ice.

            "Be careful," Kendall instructed, "It's really easy to fall. If you feel like you're about to fall, just grab onto me, ok?"

            Anya nodded uncertainly, slowly making her way onto the ice. Kendall skated backwards, facing her.

            "To go you just push your feet to the sides. Like this," Kendall said, demonstrating.

            Anya nodded again and tried to mimic him. It wasn't as easy as it looked and she soon had to grab onto Kendall.

            "Here. Let's try it like this. You hold onto my arms like this and I'll pull you along until you get a feel for the ice, ok?"

            Anya nodded and Kendall began to skate backwards, pulling her along.

            "Good," Kendall said after a few minutes, "Now I'm going to let go and you're going to skate to me, ok?"

            Anya nodded once again as Kendall skated away from her, stopping about 9 feet away from her.

            "Don't be afraid to grab onto the wall if you have to, ok?" Kendall said.

            Anya nodded and began to skate slowly towards Kendall.

            "Good," Kendall said when she reached him, "Now, try again." Kendall skated away.

            Anya began to skate towards Kendall once again. This time she seemed a little off-balance.

            "Careful," Kendall called out anxiously.

            Suddenly, Anya's skate caught on something and before Kendall could react, she fell.

            Kendall immediately skated over to her as fast as he could.

            "Are you ok?" he asked, deeply concerned. He could see the tears that had gathered in her eyes.

            Anya nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

            "Are you sure?" Kendall asked.

            Anya nodded again and Kendall helped her up.

            "Do you want to take a break?" he asked.

            "No," Anya replied quietly, using every ounce of her willpower to keep her voice from wavering.

            "Ok. Do you want to keep going?"

            "Yes," Anya replied, her voice stronger.

            "All right." Kendall skated away from Anya, this time stopping only 5 feet away from her.

            They practiced like this for about 10 more minutes, Kendall stopping farther away from her each time. Later, they worked on turning and stopping. After that, Kendall decided to call it a day.

            "That was really good for your first time ice skating," Kendall said as they took off their skates.

            "Really?" Anya asked.

            "Yeah. You got through a lot more than I did my first day," Kendall said, leaving out the part about how he was only four when his father first took him to learn how to skate, "Did you have fun?"

            "Yes. I had a lot of fun," Anya said with a smile.

            "Good," said Kendall. He stood up. "Ready to go?"

            Anya nodded and the two teenagers left.

            The next morning, Katie Knight got up at 7:30 (as she always did) and made her way to the kitchen, still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

            "Happy birthday!" Katie looked around, startled. Her mom, brother, honorary brothers, and Anya were standing around the table, smiling. In front of her was a cookie cake with 13 lit candles in it that read "Happy Birthday, Katie!" surrounded by a few wrapped presents.

            "But my birthday was almost three months ago," Katie said, confused.

            "Yeah, well, we never got the chance to celebrate it, what with everything that was going on," Logan explained.

            "Better late than never, right?" James added.

            Katie smiled and Carlos began to sing, everyone quickly joining in.

            "Happy birthday to you..."

* * *

            After they finished eating the cookie cake (proudly baked by Mrs. Knight and Anya), it was time to open presents.

            "Thanks for the hair cra-I mean hair care products, James," Katie said.

            "No problem," James said excitedly, oblivious to Katie's obvious displeasure, "If you want, I can show you how to use them later."

            "Um, thanks," Katie said, quickly moving on to the next gift.

            "Oooh! Open mine!" Carlos said excitedly, hardly able to stand still.

            "A Frisbee?" Katie asked after unwrapping it.

            "Yeah! You broke yours last summer, remember?" Carlos asked, clearly convinced that he had given her the perfect present.

            "Oh yeah. I forgot about that. Thanks." Katie happily set the Frisbee aside and moved on to Anya's present.

            Katie carefully unwrapped the gift. It was a teddy bear.

            "It's so cute! Thanks!" Katie gushed, already devising ways that she could use it to augment her puppy dog eyes in order to get what she wanted.

            "I made it myself," Anya said shyly.

            "Really?" Katie asked, all thoughts of using the bear for her own purposes flying out of her head.

            Anya nodded.

            "Wow." Katie suddenly had a new respect for the bear. She gently put it down and picked up Logan's present.

            It was small, which was always a good sign. The best (and most expensive) presents tended to be the smaller ones.

            "Castle Bashers 2!" Katie squealed, "I didn't even know they were making a sequel!”

            "They weren't," Logan said, his face impassive. Katie looked up at him in confusion.

            "What?" she asked.

            Logan laughed. "Kidding! Of course they were! You probably didn't know because of all that's been happening. And get this: Castle Bashers 2 doesn't come out until this fall."

            "Then how'd you get it?" Katie asked incredulously.

            "I know a guy," Logan said vaguely.

            Katie set Logan's present aside and moved on to her brother's. She had saved his for last because Kendall always got her the best presents.

            "Snoop Dogg Jam Phonic Headphones?" Katie squealed again more excitedly than before.

            "To replace the ones you gave to Bitters for Christmas," Kendall explained, "Happy birthday, Katie."

            Katie stood up and hugged her brother tightly before giving similar hugs to everybody else.

            "Thanks, guys," Katie said, "This has been the best birthday ever."


	22. Chapter 22

            A few days after Katie's birthday party, Kendall decided to take Anya to the beach.

            They arrived at Griffin's Malibu beach house at about nine in the morning (Kendall had threatened to let Carlos and Logan loose in the house if Griffin didn't let them use it for the day) and quickly unpacked everything, setting up a picnic blanket on the beach.

            "Do you want to go in the water?" Kendall asked.

            Anya looked towards the water nervously.

            "Come on, you can't go to the beach without going in the ocean," Kendall said, "Besides, it'll be fun."

            "Are you sure?" Anya asked.

            "Anya, would I lie to you?" Kendall asked.

            "No," Anya admitted.

            "Then come on." He took her by the hand and they ran towards the water.

            "It's cold!" Anya exclaimed, putting her feet in the water.

            Kendall laughed. "Yeah, no kidding."

            Anya went in a deeper, Kendall following close behind. Soon the water was up to her waist.

            A large wave came and almost knocked her off her feet.

            "Careful," Kendall said, holding her shoulder so that she wouldn't fall.

            Anya nodded and the two stood there, splashing around until another, larger wave came by.

            All at once, Anya's feet were no longer touching the ocean floor. The water came up above her head and she couldn't breathe. Anya began to panic as the water pushed her around, taking her where it wanted to.

            Anya felt Kendall's strong arms pull her away from the grip of the ocean. She came up coughing and sputtering as Kendall half carried, half pulled her towards the shore.

            "Are you ok?" he demanded, worry written all over his features.

            Anya nodded, still breathing heavily.

            "I don't think I want to go back in the water," she said after she had caught her breath.

            "Come on. This is a good time to have lunch," Kendall suggested and the two went back up to the picnic blanket.

            After they ate, Kendall and Anya stayed at the blanket. Carlos had lent them his sand toys so Anya immediately began making sandcastles. It took a few tries, but after a few minutes she was churning out sandcastles like a pro. Kendall, of course, helped, and soon they had a sandcastle city.

            "It's getting dark," Kendall said as the sun began to go down, "We should probably put everything away."

            After everything was packed up and put away in the Big Time Rush Mobile, the two teenagers began to walk along the beach.

            "It's so pretty here," Anya said, looking out over the water.

            "Yeah," Kendall agreed.

            Anya slipped her hand into Kendall's, a shy smile making its way onto her face. Kendall's fingers gently tightened around her hand, not wanting to ever let it go.

            They continued to walk along the beach, just taking in the sunset and the beauty around them.

            "So have you thought about it anymore?" Kendall suddenly asked.

            "Thought about what?" Anya asked nervously.

            "You know—us. Being together." They stopped walking. "It's ok if you say no."

            Anya turned so that they were facing each other. Resting her hands on his arms, she stood on her tiptoes and gently gave him a kiss.

            Stunned, Kendall looked down at the shy face of the girl he loved. A huge smile almost broke his face in half as he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. He pulled away and kissed the thin white scar near her hairline, the only remnant from the accident that had happened only three months prior.

            "I think that answers my question," Kendall said, putting his arm around her shoulders.

            The two sat in the sand and watched the sun go down, Anya resting her head on Kendall's shoulder.

            "Today was fun," Anya said tiredly as the last rays of the sun disappeared over the horizon.

            "Yeah," Kendall agreed, "But we should probably get going."

            "All right," Anya said and they stood up. Hand in hand, they walked back to the Big Time Rush Mobile.

            Not even ten minutes after Kendall began to drive home, Anya was fast asleep.

            Kendall smiled to himself. She looked so peaceful, almost the complete opposite of how she looked when he first found her.

            Kendall turned on the radio. The song "Can't Take My Eyes off You" by the Four Seasons was playing. He chuckled to himself. How appropriate.


	23. Chapter 23

            Anya quietly got out of bed and slipped out of the room she shared with Katie. She left the Palm Woods and began to make her way to the only place in the world that she could find with her eyes closed. Once she got there, she made a beeline for the two gravestones that she was looking for and sat down on the ground in front of them. Anya lovingly cleaned off a year's worth of dirt and grime from the stones until she could read what was written on them.

            "Hi, Mama," Anya began, "Hi, Daddy. How are you? Well, I'm sure you're great, and for once I am, too. This past year...well, it's been different and more wonderful than any other year I've told you about. I ran away from Wayne and Gertrude and this boy, Kendall, found me. He protected me from them, well, until Wayne hit me with his car. But that's not his fault; I kind of let Wayne hit me on purpose. If I didn't he would have hit Kendall and Kendall would have died. Anyway, I'm ok now so it doesn't matter." Anya could feel the first cools drops of a rain storm fall on her face.

            "Actually, I'm better than ok. Wayne and Gertrude are in jail and now I live with Kendall and his friends and family in this place called the Palm Woods. They're all so nice over there...I'm almost never scared anymore.

            "Kendall's mother is really nice. She's in charge of Kendall, his three friends, his sister, and now me, and she does a really good job of it. She's always there if you need anything and she's just so nice. It's hard to believe I was actually scared of her when I first met her." Anya wiped a few oncoming tears out of her eyes. "And his sister, she's nice, too. I share a room with her now. She's kind of...grown up for her age, but she's the best roommate I could ask for.

            "And his friends...they're unlike any people that I've ever met. With Kendall, they make up a band called 'Big Time Rush.' They're crazy and they're always getting into trouble, but they're so...so loyal to each other. They would drop everything at a moment's notice to help each other." Anya's voice grew quieter. "I wish I had friends like that."

            Anya stared at the tombstones for a moment before resuming. "Even everybody else that lives at the Palm Woods is really nice. Except for the manager, he's kind of cranky and strict. There's this one girl, Camille, who's really good friends with Kendall and his friends. She's really really nice. She's an actress and she's always auditioning for things. She's a little strange, but strange in a good way." The rain began to fall harder.

            "And there are these other girls. There are three of them and their names are all 'Jennifer.' They're really nice to me, too, but they care too much about clothes and makeup and hair so Kendall likes to keep me away from them."

            Anya saw something move out of the corner of her eye. She looked up and saw Kendall standing at the edge of the cemetery, holding an umbrella. She waved and then turned back to the tombstones.

            "There are so many people that live at the Palm Woods that I could spend all day telling you about them, but I have to get back. I love you both and I miss you and I wish that you were here with me, but you don't have to worry about me anymore. I'm finally safe."


End file.
